Best Summer Ever: Day 14

July 14
Buy Yourself Some Free Time

Hire a teenager to help you to catch up on laundry, housework, and the long list of jobs that never seem to get done.

Find a way to use the time you've freed up in a way that will nurture your relationships and allow you to do some of the things you want to do, both for yourself and as a family.

Related:

Take Back Your Time: A U.S./Canadian initiative that seeks to "challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment."

Here are a few noteworthy points excerpted from the Take Back Your Time website:

     Time stress threatens our marriages, families and relationships as we find less time for each other, less time to care for our children and elders, less time to just hang out. 
     It weakens our communities. We have less time to know our neighbors, supervise our young people, and volunteer. 
     It reduces employment as fewer people are hired and then required to work longer hours, or are hired for poor part-time jobs without benefits. 
     It leaves many of us with little time to vote, much less be informed, active citizens. 
     It leaves us little time for ourselves, for self-development, or for spiritual growth. 
     It even contributes to the destruction of our environment. Studies show that lack of time encourages use of convenience and throwaway items and reduces recycling.

Photo Credit: Ann Douglas, 2009.