The first quarter can begin to feel like a long haul.

We had turned the page to January to face new horizons, perhaps eager to launch into our goals and conquer unexplored territory. And then we hit the February slump.

I receive monthly IV magnesium treatments. This past week, while a lovely nurse was hooking up my line, I noticed she seemed tired.  She mentioned she had pushed hard for yet another week, and by the time Saturday came she could do nothing but hang out in her house.  “Ah!” I exclaimed, “You had a Jammie Day!”  And she smiled for the first time.  She agreed and suddenly didn’t have the same guilt about her day off – now, it had a purpose and a name.

We are 45 days into 2015 with no real break.  First quarter is a long road.  And it would be easy to start to get discouraged or peter out.

The solution?  Take that Jammie Day in the form of a personal half-day, a long weekend, or perhaps your first scheduled vacation.  No kidding. So often we ‘save’ our days up, but by the time we get to the 2nd quarter cram (Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduations, End of School activities …whew!), we have run out of gas and are nothing but a bag of crabby apples.

Tomorrow I hop aboard a Celebrity Cruise line for a bit of a mid-winter break.  It’s a business trip, but you can bet I’ll be enjoying both island hopping and sun bathing, refilling my tank to help me push through a very demanding end of 1st quarter calendar of events.

What about you?  Think you are too mature or too high energy for a Jammie Day?  Think again.  There is still so much more to 2015 and your goals for this new year … December is still a long way off.  You’ve got aggressive goals in front of you.  Don’t buy into the lie that you can’t afford to take time off.  The truth is you can’t afford not to take time off to take care of you … even if it’s just taking yourself out of the ring for a ½ day.

We will name it our Mid-Winter Refueling (also known as Jammie Day).