The term “prioritize” have been associated with issues related to productivity and time management. In this article we want to tell you about how important it is for our health and our general well-being to learn to prioritize. This characteristic seems to be an exclusive gift of highly organized and methodical people, but it is a habit we can build, something that we can encourage every day with small actions.
We are not born with this capacity, we develop it as we work on our minds and as we learn to differentiate what is really our duty, from everything that we have convinced ourselves that we have to do. In reality, some of these activities we think we have to accomplish, can be postponed or definitively, dispensed. And we are not just talking about time management.
There are many other factors that go into this ability. We want to talk especially about learning to prioritize in coherence with your goals and your own processes, since there are priorities that we are all share and have in common, however, we must include them in our lives in our own way, respecting our rhythms and lifestyles.
There are tasks and objectives that we often set ourselves just because it “should be like that”, to follow a trend or because we believe it is the right thing to do. In this part we are going to include the first priority that we want you to keep in mind for the rest of your life: the importance of listen to yourself. We all have a dialogue and an inner voice. What if you stop for a moment today and listen to what it is asking for you? This can help you determine other priorities as well. The next time you are going to include an activity in your routine, think about if it is really aligned with the person you are and your life at that specific moment.
We could say that working on emotional, mental and physical health is a priority that should interest all human beings, however, each of us have a different way of including it in their daily routine and this is where we want to emphasize. Of course, being healthy and feeling good with ourselves is a general desire. Who wouldn’t want this in their life? The difference lies in what well-being means for each one and the way in which every individual pursues it.
A very clear example: movement. All human beings should include physical activity in our daily lives. However, not all people enjoy it in the same way, at the same time or with the same intensity. If at this moment you are going through an illness, a complicated physical or emotional situation or a recovery process, your priority should be to recover and find your balance again. So don’t impose things on yourself, at this moment the only thing they would do is affect your well-being.
There are moments for everything, even moments for just to be calm. We live in a hyper-productive society that tells us we must be doing something all the time. Prioritizing rest is also included in this learning. Take rest, if necessary. We know it can be difficult to stay still if you’re used to an active lifestyle, but you’re not alone in this process. In our Healing Presents app we have thought of alternatives for different situations that you could be going through and you will be able to find everything, from guided meditations with voice or images, techniques to do it consciously, to music created to heal us from within.
Following this example, if you don’t have movement restrictions, but right now you don’t have the time, willingness, or energy to do higher-impact workouts, think of a different way of moving or exercising that doesn’t have as much impact, that doesn’t get in the way of your actual process, that is consistent with the moment you are living. Try more restorative varieties of yoga, walk more in the fresh air, stretch. Always listen to your body and be respectful with the moment you are going through. Going against this can cause you great frustration and bring adverse and unwanted effects on your health, since you are going to stimulate hormonal processes related to stress and anxiety. Something that we must avoid at all costs if we want to recover or just live in wellness.
This example is just one aspect in which learning to prioritize will improve our quality of life, but it can be applied to other areas where we need order and calm. It all starts from learning to listen and observe ourselves, in order to discern between what we really should and want to do and everything that is definitely not a priority for us right now.
Last but not least, don’t compare yourself. Neither with other people, nor with the people you have been before in other moments of your life. If before you had time, energy, resources and health to do some things, think about who you are in the here and now. In what your present being needs and wants. There are times when we are capable of a lot, there are others when we simply need to slow down. Even learning to prioritize requires us to be compassionate with ourselves.
