Setting Time Aside For You

Do you ever feel you're so busy, just rushing from one thing to the next?

Feeling like if you could just get away from it all then you could finally have a bit of time to breathe and to think? 
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This used to be me.

I dreamed of being able to press pause on life so I could have some space to reflect, to plan, to prioritise. To figure out where I wanted to go. ⁠
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Expeditions always provided a bit of this pause for me. Especially my solo ski crossing of Hardangervidda in Norway last year where I didn't even have Luke to distract me.
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On expedition, life becomes simplified. You have everything with you to survive and you know where you're going. You get in the rhythm of your routine and this frees up headspace for reflection.⁠
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Back in Edinburgh I wondered how I could create this space that I'd been craving - this time away to think - in my day-to-day, non-expedition life.⁠
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And so I started getting up earlier each morning with a notebook and pencil and just writing. No phone nearby. No distractions. ⁠
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I'd write whatever was in my head. All the thoughts swirling around up there. I wrote out my priorities, my dreams. My fears. How I was feeling. What I'd learned. All of it. If I was stuck for what to write, I'd just ask myself, "what's on your mind?"⁠
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Every single morning.⁠
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I've done this now for over a year and it's brought so much clarity to my life. I now can't imagine not carving out this precious time to think. ⁠
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Time for just me and my thoughts (which, if I'm honest is sometimes terrifying!) to help me understand what's going on in my mind so I can feel lighter and more focused for the rest of the day. ⁠
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Do you set aside time to think about you?