Saw this list on a friends Facebook page and thought it was great! I definitely try to do most of these things but I highlighted some of my favorites.
18 Things Everyone Should Start Making Time For Again:
1. Writing things by hand. I leave little notes for people all the time. When I borrow items from coworkers, I leave a thank you note. I send handwritten notes sometimes too. And I leave notes for J around the house for him to find, especially when I'm not going to be there! I started writing more random notes for people when I learned about this project called The World Needs More Love Letters. There's also a TED Talk where the founder discusses why/how she created this organization.
2. Savoring time to do nothing.
3. Thinking before responding. Sometimes we need time to process before responding, I know I sure do. I need time to think through my thoughts and kind of organize what I want to say. If I respond immediately, usually it doesn't sound as eloquent or as coherent as I'd like it to - which frustrates me. So I pause and then respond. Sometimes taking that extra time may mean a more meaningful, thought-out and respectful response.
4. Cooking a nice meal just for the sake of doing so. I pretty much grew up in the kitchen. My Nana always included us in the cooking, making sure we knew how each step was supposed to smell, feel, taste, etc. My dad is the same way - giving suggestions, providing techniques, and sharing recipe ideas. And my mom would always bake brownies or special birthday cakes or pies for holidays. All of these things combined have left me with a love of cooking. I share recipes with friends, love to make a spontaneous batch of cookies or just try to wing a recipe that I've never made before. The kitchen is easily my favorite place in a house.
5. Getting really dressed up for no other reason than just wanting to. Uh, hello...that's why we're having a fancy holiday party!
6. Books. Enough said, right? Don't get me wrong I love the fact that I can take my Kindle Fire anywhere and have the opportunity to jump between the 4 different books I may be reading. But I also love the experience of reading from a book. I love taking a book to the beach and finding sand in the pages later. I love taking the book jacket off of the hard cover book so that it doesn't get ruined. There's definitely something to be said about a cozy winter afternoon that includes a cup of coffee or tea, a blanket, and a book.
7. Making phone calls to relatives for no other reason than to just say hi, and to ask how they’re doing.
8. Disconnecting from technology frequently enough that we won’t be
anxious and feeling like we’re missing something when we try to do so
for an extended period of time.
9. Celebrating things with long, multiple course dinners that we hold
for people as opposed to just drinking ourselves into an oblivion and
being belligerent (that has it’s time and place, of course, but having
thoughtful, celebratory dinners is a dying art).
10. Cleaning because it’s satisfying and doing things like painting
walls or getting fresh flowers just because it’s therapeutic. I love finding new little accessories for the house or rearranging furniture. It keeps thing interesting.
11. Spending time with kids, and doing kid things with them.
12. Answering things in a timely fashion, not putting off invitations and requests just because we can.
13. Making sure relationships are actually based on time spent with
one another. Just being together is very important.
14. Just sitting and listening to music.
15. Traveling by train, or if that’s not possible, at least exploring
places that you pass everyday.
16. Putting personal health and well-being first, as it often falls
to the wayside in importance. Enough said.
17. Planning something, especially with someone else, as simple as
dinner or as grandiose as a long vacation next year. I love planning things - parties, trips, dinners, what Saturday is going to look like, etc. But on the flip side, if you're a planner, sometimes it's nice to not do the planning and try to just go with the flow. It's nice to have that balance.
18. Stopping to talk to people throughout the day. The tiny moments are sometimes what makes or breaks someone's day. Being polite and exchanging some small talk could be helping someone's day end on a positive note.
Here's the link to the original posting: http://thoughtcatalog.com/brianna-wiest/2013/11/18-things-everyone-should-start-making-time-for-again/
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