Just Jennie: HOW to Stop Chasing that "25th Hour"

In this follow up to Jennie’s solo episode about the myth of the “25th hour,” she shares simple tools and real-life tricks for scheduling your time in a way that actually brings you some peace. Let this be your moment to choose you!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to I Choose Me with Jenny Girl. Hello,
as promised, I am back and I'm so happy to
be here with you today. We are going to talk
about choosing to find me time. On the last episode,
I ranted a little about life, about running on fumes

(00:25):
and carrying all that heavyweight. There's the forever epic responsibility
of being a good mom or dad through every stage
and every age. Or maybe you're a parent to an
adult kid who still needs a lot of let's just
call it guidance, and we're trying to figure out how

(00:49):
to do this. You know, we're trying to stay connected
with our adult kids as they're leaving the nest, but
also knowing, you know, we gotta let them fly. So yeah, yeah,
figuring out that whole new rhythm, that whole vibe take
some work. Perhaps you're all the sudden facing having to

(01:10):
be a completely different kind of parent, like me to
an eighty three year old who used to be my parent,
kind of thing which requires a great amount of love, yes,
but also patience, so much patience, like all the patients sometimes,
but you know in your bones that's what you need

(01:30):
to be doing. Oh and then there's the relationships. They
are work. A commitment to grow alongside with your person,
whether you are together or apart, is a lot of work.
You have to give that time or it will just
fizzle and you will grow apart, and we don't want

(01:50):
that to happen. Or maybe it's just all the hoops,
all the hoops that you've been jumping through trying to
hustle your schedule so that you can do all the things.
But it got me to the root of the point.
There isn't and never will be a twenty fifth hour.
That's the deal. So how do we actually make time

(02:13):
for ourselves within our currently existing twenty four hours? First
things first, it starts with choosing to get just as
serious about caring for yourself as you are about any
other thing in your life. That's it. But here are
some of the ways I protect my me time. Okay,

(02:38):
Number one, schedule yourself in I've said this so many times. Literally,
you have to block out time on your calendar the
way you would for a major meeting, doctor's appointment, an
important you know, thing with your kid. Write it down.
I write down JG time or ME time. Do not

(03:00):
disturb in big bold capital letters. It feels so silly
when I started it, but I felt like it forced
me to treat my self care as a non negotiable commitment.
If you see a blank hour in your day, what's
the first thing you're going to think about? Putting there
a chore? Right, Let's just stop that. Let's don't do that. Okay,

(03:23):
Let's write in to that blank space, walk with no destination,
or thirty minutes to read a book before anything else
can nab it. It's a boundary with yourself and it works.
Number two is to protect your mornings. You don't have
to carve out an hour. Claim ten minutes that's so easy.

(03:47):
Ten minutes when you first wake up, before you look
at your phone. That's very important, very hard to do,
but very important, before you check your emails, before you
address the human standing in the kitchen asking for a snack,
just say no, nope. These ten minutes are mine. No noise,

(04:09):
no scrolling, just me sitting peacefully in that quiet, protected
space that is within me, and that is where everything changes.
My entire perspective for the day. Just that ten minutes
for me. At the end of the day, it's my gardening.
I love ending my workdays in nature. I usually try

(04:33):
to stretch the time, and I will hide out in
my little rose garden until past dark and then people
will come looking for me. But it's really my escape.
So find your rose garden. I don't know, maybe you're
starting to feel a shift just by listening to this.
You're starting to get a little motivated. But these things,

(04:53):
they are going to change your game. Okay, So next
I want to get into the powerful act of saying
no and redefining productivity. Okay, so say no like it's
a form of self care, because guess what it is.
Every no you say is a non essential request, creating

(05:15):
space for a yes that actually serves you and your
well being. Say no is not selfish. It is preventative
medicine for burnout. You don't need a huge explanation when
you're saying no to somebody. Just keep it simple. Try this.
That sounds really great, but I'm protecting my time right now.

(05:38):
I hope you can understand fair simple right or you
can say ah, I can't take that on right now.
But thank you so much for thinking of me. Very short,
very sweet, and you know what, final, So people really
get your message.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
If you've been ghosted, divorced, or left for someone else.
Snap out of it. It's time for you to give
some help by listening to us that I Do Part two.
Listen to I Do Part two on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
At the core of this is something simple but so powerful,
the ability to choose yourself. That means tuning into your
own needs and building the kind of inner strength that
doesn't require validation from an outside source. It's about finding

(06:38):
stability within yourself so that no matter what life throws
at you, whether it's chaos or change or conflict, you
know you have your own back. I do just want
to clarify one thing for anyone out there who might
be having trouble with choose yourself. The concept when I

(06:59):
say I choose me, I am not talking about being selfish.
It's not about being self absorbed or ignoring other people's needs.
That's not the message at all. What I mean is
that we really need to fill our own cup first
so we have something to offer the people we love.

(07:19):
When you are grounded in who you are, when you're
taking care of your physical, emotional, mental needs, you can
actually show up better for everybody else in your life,
and that leads to number four. Redefine productivity. This is
a tough one for me. We think productivity means doing

(07:42):
folding the laundry, cleaning the floor, sending the emails, the scheduling,
the doctor's appointments, the pickups, the drop offs. But here's
the game changing truth. Rest is not lazy. It's your
maintenance for your soul. You cannot pour from an empty cup.
You've hurt that a million times, but it's so true.

(08:03):
If your self care time is on your calendar and
you follow through, that is one of the most important
and productive things you will do all week. Number five,
check your why before you're yes. So before agreeing to anything, pause,
ask yourself, why am I saying yes to this? Is

(08:23):
it out of joy or obligation? Always take a beat
before saying yes and determine if it's really right for you.
And finally, this is the simple one. Do what you
say you're gonna do in life and then just do
your best. That's it. Give yourself permission to let good

(08:46):
enough be enough. So let's bring it back. You don't
need a mythical twenty fifth hour. You don't need a
genie in a bottle. You just need to decide that
you are worth one of the twenty four hours you
already have. The real I Choose me moment here is

(09:07):
not finding the time, but claiming the worthiness to use
the time. It's accepting that your rest, your peace, and
your joy are just as important as the hardest deadline
or the most urgent RSVP. They are the foundation of

(09:28):
everything else you do. My challenge to you this week
don't get scared. I just want you to be open. Okay,
So let's do this. Let's open up our calendars, maybe
your phone. Maybe you have one of those og spiral
date book, daily planner things. God bless you, open it

(09:48):
up right now, and I want you to block out
two thirty minute time slots, not for a chore, not
for an errand for me time. Maybe maybe it's just
sitting under a tree and doing nothing and that's good enough.
Maybe it's putting on your favorite music and having an

(10:08):
impromptu dance party in the kitchen. I love doing that.
Here's the thing. Don't let that wave of responsibility that
might pop up in the middle of this me time,
don't let it wash it away. Don't allow your own
mind to suck up your precious thirty minutes and the
last part of this challenge, tell me what are you

(10:31):
putting in your thirty minute me time space this week?
I want to know, so just take a second to
follow us on I Choose Me with Jenny Garth on
Instagram and let me know. I want to know. Thank
you for choosing me. Bye for now, Love you guys.