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Free Float Days

Sometimes we get into a phase where every.single.day is planned or scripted, and not just the weekdays. Even weekends aren’t what they used to be, where there was generally less going on, and there was an opportunity to just do the day, without having any plans.

Now, this may sound like an alien concept – having no plans! Imagine, a day when you do not have to be anywhere or do something at a certain time, when you can go with your natural rhythms, that is, doing what feels like the best thing to do – or NOT do, not what you feel you must do.

Some years ago, I began to notice that if I had too long of a stretch without an unscripted day – the whole day – I’d get a little off balance.  I would begin to feel a bit down, my end-of-the-day tiredness seemed to go deeper.

So I instigated “Free Float Days,” for myself, days when I have absolutely nothing on my schedule, so I can do or not do to my heart’s content. 

My Free Float Days certainly don’t happen every week, but I know that I can only go about 3 weeks without a completely open day before my busy schedule (just like yours) starts to affect how I feel.

Establishing such a day takes a little effort, but the most important element in this change of behavior takes my being able to recognize ahead of time that I am over-programmed, before I’m totally drained. That’s the key here – ahead of time.

What I see around me a lot is both women and men going like gangbusters for weeks on end, then collapsing on the couch for a day or two, or longer if they get sick. That’s way too late.

With appointments, kids’ activities, church, etc., you may be thinking “no way I could do that.” But I bet you could – and I bet your family could benefit too – we are ALL over-programmed, even our children. 

One Free Float Day a month or every other month may be just enough for you, while keeping up with all the goings on of life and family.

Begin to notice if you wake up on a Saturday and feel drained just thinking about all the plans for the weekend. If that’s the case, I encourage you to go to your calendar now, and schedule a day soon for a full Free Float Day.

For just one day once and awhile, you and your family can skip a normal day and celebrate ​just being. Normal will return soon enough the next morning.

On this day, you don’t have to do absolutely nothing (although that’s is fine, too). It means there are not any “hard stops,” when you must be somewhere at an exact time.

Instead, if it feels like a good idea to go to the park with your kids, do that or if what you feel like doing is reading a book or weeding your garden, go right ahead. It’s about eliminating the rushing and the “busy” state of mind.

Then, you can experiment with how often you need to have a Free Float Day and see what feels right to you – balancing all the goings-on with days to just float and flow.

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