When I ask people if they want to learn a new craft one of the most common answers is; “I don’t have the time”.
We are all so busy, running around after the children, working on our own businesses, commuting too and from the ‘day job’ managing the house. Sometimes I think I should run away to the circus as I must be one of the best jugglers there is!
But it is really really important to SWITCH OFF. You need to give your body and mind time to rest and relax.
We all know that but honestly how easy is it to achieve?
Recently I decided to take the chance to learn to knit. As you know I can do most crafts but this was a dark area for me. Having always been a crocheter, going over to 2 sticks was seen by some as crossing over to the dark side! In learning to knit I have also been setting myself a personal challenge: Each night at 10pm (or earlier if I can manage it) regardless of how messy the house is or how many emails need answering in my inbox, i have been stopping what I have been doing, getting out my knitting and concentrating on nothing else for at least an hour. I might watch a spot of telly while I knit, or catch up on a podcast or two but most importantly I am chilling out. Taking some time for me and not letting the general day to day grindstone work me down further.
Doing this allows my brain to switch off so that when I finally go to bed my mind is calm, rested and focused on the job of falling asleep. I’m getting a much better nights sleep and waking up feeling far more rested and ready to face the day and whatever it throws at me.
After just a few weeks of doing this I can honestly say I feel less under pressure, the to do list is looking smaller and to top it off I have learnt something new and am getting ahead on making my own Christmas presents this year.
So don’t let “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have time” stop you from learning something new. Use it to gain time, ‘Me time’
Use it as your prescription for a more relaxed and healthy lifestyle. I promise you that you will see and feel the difference in a very short while.
If you can already knit or perhaps you like to do cross stitch or embroidery, dig out an old project or treat yourself to a new kit and give yourself that precious hour or even half an hour at the end of your day. Every little bit helps.
For those of you looking for a new skill, our Semi Virtual Crochet courses are ideal. You receive a lovely kit and book in the post, then simply log onto our website and plug yourself in to our professionally filmed tutorials and crochet along with me. You can take it as slowly as you like, there are not deadlines or timescales to finish in. Bitesize easy chunks of ;’Me time’ are what’s on offer.
Until the end of October we have the following deals available on all our courses:
Beginners – £20 off (HALF PRICE) use code beginners20 at the checkout
Intermediate – £15 off (HALF PRICE) use code intermediate15 at the checkout
Amigurumi Cacti garden £5 off use code cacti5 at the checkout.
So I challenge you to start rewarding yourself with a crafty hour each day even if you grab one of your childrens colouring books and some pencils, anything creative will help you in the long term I promise. Do let me know how you get on and if you want to try your hand at any new crafts, do get in touch with me to see how I can help you.
But most of all enjoy your new found TIME.