When was the last time that you did something just for you?

These days in business, or in a demanding job, we tend to focus all our activities on giving out from ourselves to be successful in our work. We give to our clients, to our future clients and to our co-workers. After work we go home and give to our families, give time to the chores or maybe help out a friend who has a problem. That’s great – but what about us? I repeat my first question – when was the last time that you did something just for you?

In The Artists’ Way Julia Cameron recommends a weekly date with ourselves where we do something alone that tops up our well. She calls this an ‘artist date’ because an artist is always putting out in some way to create their art, whether that be by writing, painting, music or anything else. The artist date is necessary because the well within the artist needs to be filled up with new images and experiences. If not, at some point, the artist will run dry of ideas and/or motivation. However we don’t need to be an artist to benefit from this – we are all giving ourselves to our work, creating ideas and putting our energy out into our world. Like the blocked artist, we too could feel wrung out, tired and de-motivated. So an artist date is a good idea for everyone.

Your artist date can be anything from going to see a movie, visiting an exhibition or maybe something as simple as fulfilling the promise to ourselves to check out the new craft shop in town. The only rule is that you spend and hour or two doing something that isn’t work-related or a chore (or yet another thing from the to-do list) and just give yourself time to play and have fun just for the sheer hell of it.

My artist date is usually a trip to the cinema and sometimes a visit to an art gallery. For starters, it feels wonderfully naughty and frivolous to take time from my business schedule and ‘bunk off’ to go on my date. Secondly, I nearly always find some inspiration from my date which encourages me to keep developing my business and creative ventures.

Don’t worry if you’re not in the position to disappear from your job during the day. An artist date can be taken at any time. Maybe you could take a proper lunch break and do something special, or take a couple of hours for your date after you have finished work. Or perhaps you need to ring-fence part of the weekend. Maybe you could spend a little more time with a newspaper, magazine or a good book. How about just sitting outside with your favourite drink and enjoying your garden or a nearby park? Remember that it is your time to do what you want to do and is best achieved by going on your date alone. Even if you already spend much of your time alone, it is still important to do the artist date on your own. It is a special time for self-nurturing and you’ll be glad that you have done it.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your artist date, feel refreshed and don’t forget to plan the next one!