All right, so a lot of you have been asking if Tea Time Tuesday are still happening and yes of course

We've only just started this series there's been like two episodes so far

So it's definitely still happening

I just thought I would let you know though that tea time Tuesdays aren't gonna be every single Tuesday

We'll make them as often as I can, but I also still want to kind of create the usual Pick Up Lime's style videos

So it's just gonna be a surprise each week as to which type of video it's gonna be

And another update, Robin and I just got back yesterday actually

from our trip to Japan. We were there for just under three weeks, it was an awesome awesome experience

But I decided this particular trip that I wasn't going to vlog any of it

Because I just kind of wanted to soak in the experience and

separate my holiday from my working life for a little bit

But I'll be honest doing that wasn't very easy

For those of you who are following on instagram, you know that,

at the least, I just shared some instagram stories with you guys

Something you guys might not know about me is that I've tended to be a bit of a workaholic in the past

It's something i'm still working on to improve

But I thought in this video we could chat a little bit about creating a work-life balance

Even if you're the furthest thing from being a workaholic

You've probably at some point in your life experienced the pressures of work

or studies and I know that that's something that definitely happened to me when I was a student

and again when I was working as a dietitian

and then I promised myself that when I started my own business it wouldn't be that way

but realistically, I work on Pick Up Limes more than I would admit to anybody

And so I guess I understand that struggle to find balance

I mean doing the kind of work that I do is really hard to not want to photograph and film absolutely everything

And i think there's a beauty to that, because it helps me in some ways to be in the present moment

but sometimes it can also sap me out of it

I think a lot of the times we convince ourselves that we don't have the time for self-care

We're stuck in this go-go-go mentality and time is a precious commodity, right?

So it's better spent if you know we're working on something or studying something

And I think it's important to have a good work ethic and a good study ethic

But at the same time I think it can really set us back in so many ways

I think productivity and efficiency is short-lived,

If you're not taking the time to find balance and to recharge a little bit

And I think that our approach to balance should be done in a balanced way so what I mean is that it's you know

realistic and realizing that the small things is a matter too

It doesn't have to be a huge upheaval in the way that we live our lives

So even though iIve given the example of having gone on a trip as my break

I mean that doesn't have to be it at all it can be something like taking the time

To do some physical activity, or to create a wholesome healthy meal for yourself, or to journal something,

To go for a walk, to spend time with your loved ones, to work on your creative outlet

I mean, heck, even planning for a trip that's not gonna happen for three or five years from now because

we all know that planning for a trip is half the fun right?

And usually I find that in those moments where I take a break

I go for a walk, I journal, I talk with a friend about something totally unrelated

Those are the moments where I have these certain ideas pop into my head that really inspire me

They came out of nowhere, or you know,

I find certain solutions to problems that have been bogging me down for a little while,

And i think what can happen sometimes is that i, we, try to have so much control over our conscious minds

That we don't give our subconscious mind the opportunity to

surprise us or intrigue us with its insights as well

so it's like a win win win win all around if you think about it, right?

You're taking the time to recharge that's adding to your feel-good vibes

When you return to work or your studies your feeling renewed

so that means you're gonna probably increase your productivity a fair bit

And then there's also a chance that you might kind of return to your work with some new inspiration

or new ways that you can improve the way that you work or that you study

Now, there is an analogy I really love it's from the book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People'

And, in this particular book the author mentions that

one of the habits of successful people is they take the time for self-care

He calls it sharpening the saw

And so essentially what he's saying is that you're a lumberjack cutting down a whole bunch of trees

You're gonna eventually be very ineffective at your job if you don't take the time to stop and sharpen your saw

Otherwise it's just gonna get dull

And I love that analogy because it makes sense, right?

And we do the same thing with our laptops and with our phones,

We take the time to charge those, every so often, so how come we're not doing the same for ourselves?

So if like me you can kind of sometimes get stuck in a little cycle of working away at something

and you feel like no I can't break away from this because I don't have the time

Here's something that might help you give yourself permission to take that break

it's something that definitely helps me and it's the rocking chair exercise

You might have heard of this one before

So what I try to do is I imagine myself being an old lady kind of enjoying her final years,

Sitting on a rocking chair, and when I'm looking back at my younger life

What am I gonna wish that I did more of and what am I gonna wish that I did less of

Because chances are I'm gonna wish that I didn't

stress so much that they didn't put so much pressure on myself or sweat the small stuff

and wish I just given myself a break

Sometime to find balance to relax and to enjoy life a little bit more

So I fully recognize that in this video I haven't shared anything super transformative and new

I mean we all know that finding a work-life balance is really important

But I think that sometimes we can use the little reminder

Now are you somebody who is a workaholic or

do you have the totally opposite problem when it comes to your work or school life?

Let me know by sharing in the comments.

If you feel like you're somebody though who needs a little bit more balance in your life

Let me know too by giving the video a thumbs up or just

Give the video a thumbs up anyway cuz it always means a lot when you do and

Thank you for taking the time to enjoy this tea with me

looking forward to our next session, until then, have an awesome week!