Do the weeks and seasons seem to fly by in a flurry? Do you wait for the weekend, only to have that evaporate with few memorable moments?

This past weekend, Sunday night came too quickly. As I snuggled down in bed, I wondered what happened to my weekend. I hadn’t gotten to the film festival, or to the fine craft fair at MAG to which I’d intended to go. I hadn’t accomplished several other things I’d planned  I realized I’d spent much — too much — of the weekend housecleaning, grocery shopping, doing laundry and cooking.

If you’ve had that same experience, maybe it’s time to claim time for yourself, on a daily basis, and not wait for invitations and special occasions.

Think about the average week. You hopefully get somewhere between 6 and 8 hours of sleep each night. So subtract that from your total hours available each day. That means you’re awake between 960 and 1080 minutes per day. Shouldn’t at least 5% of that time – 48 to 54 minutes per day – be used doing things that enrich your spirit?

We often focus so much of our time on giving to others – bosses and work, spouses, children, ailing parents, our pets, our homes – that there’s little time for personal joy. Yet studies show that in taking time for ourselves, we improve our health and well-being, our relationships, our stress levels, our overall demeanor…and of course, our quality of life.

It doesn’t really matter what it is you choose to do…maybe it’s gardening, woodworking, photography, meditation or exercise. Perhaps it’s volunteer work or lunching with friends, reading, taking a long bath or cooking. The important thing is that it nourishes your soul.

So the next time you’re doing some self-sustaining activity, and you’re interrupted with a request, without any guilt say, “I’ll be with you shortly. I’m taking 5.”

You’re simply being as kind to yourself as you are to everyone else in your life.

Originally published in the November 7 issue of Beyond the Nest’s free weekly newsletter.