Last year, I decided to make daily quiet time one of my top priorities after finding it to be more beneficial for my mental health than anything else. Prior to last year, I did quiet time sporadically, but I never had a dedicated space to keep all of my supplies, so I failed again and again at doing it with any consistency.
Wish List
Last year, I
spent the better part of the year refreshing my home office, and at the top of
the list for my office was a dedicated space to do my quiet time each day. I wanted it to be beautiful, but comfortable,
and I wanted it to have all of the things that I needed to make my quiet time
successful each day. The requirements for
the space were as follows:
Small chair
that is both beautiful and comfortable
Pillow for
chair to add comfort and coziness
Small table
with a shelf and a drawer for storage to hold:
-
All
of my devotionals/self-improvement books
-
List
of daily affirmations
-
My
prayer list
-
Pen
for taking notes
-
Highlighter
for highlighting important passages
Basket to hold
a cozy throw
Cozy throw
Small lamp for
extra lighting
Live plant
Picture of my
family
My office is small,
which means that my quiet time space is even smaller, so it took a while to
hunt down the perfect items that met all of my requirements, but over the course
of several months, I was successful! This
space is every bit as functional, cozy, and beautiful as I had imagined it
would be and it’s now one of my favorite spots in the whole house. I use it every single day for my quiet time
and having this dedicated space has really encouraged me to be consistent with
it… I haven’t missed a single day in months!
Ready to take a
peek? Come on in!
The Tour
The chair is
comfy, but not too comfy. I
didn’t really want something to curl up in because I was worried about falling
asleep during my meditation. Meditation
requires you to sit up straight and lengthen your spine, so something with a
straight back was just what I needed.
I already had
the pillow on hand… it was originally purchased for the chair in Olivia’s baby
nursery, and since we made over her bedroom last year, this pillow has been sitting
in my box of unused décor, just waiting to be displayed again.
How I Do Quiet
Time
My quiet time
consists of four parts – meditation, time spent reading my devotionals and
other self-improvement books, time spent in prayer with God, and time spent
saying my daily affirmations.
With regard to
meditation, I downloaded the Calm app last fall and I haven’t looked back. I love it.
There are guided meditations for all sorts of things – anxiety, depression,
sleep, stress, etc. I always do one of
the guided meditations, mostly the ones for anxiety, and they typically last
about 10 minutes (sometimes a little longer).
One day I hope to do an in-depth post about meditation and count all of
the reasons why I adore it, but I’ll save that for its own post.
After I meditate,
I usually feel nice and calm, and I use the next couple of minutes to read from
my daily devotionals. Jesus Calling and
Jesus Always are the two I read every single day without fail. I cannot rave about them enough. There’s one page per day for every single day
of the year, and each one only takes a minute or two to read. I feel like both of those speak directly to
me almost daily, and I never tire of reading them over and over. So many wonderful nuggets to be found in both
of them.
Some days when I
have a little bit of extra time, I also read from one of my other self-improvement/inspirational
books. When Less Becomes More is another
book that spoke directly to me, and I read the entire thing in just a few
days. I couldn’t put it down. If life feels too busy or overwhelming for
you, give this a read. It’s fantastic. There are several other books in the stack
that I haven’t yet started or completed, but I’m really looking forward to
doing so since all of them are highly rated.
Once I’m done
reading my devotionals, I spent a few minutes in prayer with God… just chatting
with Him, thanking Him, and praying for specific intentions (the ones on my
prayer list).
Finally, I
spend a minute or two going over my daily affirmations. Daily affirmations are just positive statements
that you say to yourself each day to strengthen your outlook on life and other
things. It’s basically like strength training
for your brain to help it think good, healthy thoughts. I only recently started doing this, so the jury’s
still out, but I’ll try to remember to report back once I’ve been doing them
longer.
My whole quiet
time routine only takes about 15-20 minutes each day depending on how long my
meditation lasts, and I’ve found that it has helped with my anxiety
tremendously these last six months. Some
days I do more and some days I do less, but I do meditate and read my devotionals
every single day without fail.
And that’s my
special space and how I use it, y’all!
Thanks so much for stopping by today!
I’ll list the sources for as many items as I can below. Most of them can’t be purchased online,
unfortunately, but here they are nevertheless. Also, if you're interested in seeing my whole office, I'm finally putting together the post and will have it up in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!
Sources
Chair (TJ Maxx, similar here)
Throw pillow (old from TJ Maxx)
Table (At Home Store, similar here)
Lamp (old from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, similar here)
Gold picture frame (TJ Maxx, similar here)
Basket (Target, similar here)
Happy
Wednesday!
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A perfect little space!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think so, too!
DeleteI love this space! It's so beautiful and peaceful!
ReplyDelete-Holley @ beesimplyorganized.com
Your office is SO pretty. I can't wait for the full post on it. Quiet time has really made a difference for me, too. I am going to add Jesus Always to my wish list - I love Jesus Calling, and am always looking for new devotionals to add into the mix.
ReplyDeleteThe perfect space to just "be" - I love the time that you dedicated to yourself! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston
ReplyDeleteYour office is just so serene! I love that your chair is comfy but not too comfy.
ReplyDeleteYou are so inspiring! I love your space.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had an office like this and more of a quiet place for myself.
ReplyDeleteI️ love this space - so pretty! We just finished my home office and now I️ want to add a cozy corner for my quiet time! haha
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! And you should!! I love having everything right together in one little nook!
DeleteQuiet time is so vital, especially now! I love my glam woman space so much. You have created the perfect little space for yourself with this gorgeous office as well!
ReplyDeleteQuiet time is the best. I wish I had a lovely space like this in my tiny house, one day!
ReplyDeleteI could learn so much from you! I have never been able to get into meditation, but feel it could be so helpful for me right now. So much stress and anxiety. More than that, I do want to get into devotionals. Finding time is so hard though! I get up at 5:15 to work out, and by the time I finish and shower the girls are up (at 6:30). Your space is so cozy!!
ReplyDeleteGirl, it's so hard at first! My mind is always running a million miles a minute so it took me a long long time to train my brain to "shut off" and even now it still runs while I meditate. You just have to learn to let go of the thoughts as they appear... that's the whole purpose of meditation! It's like a workout for your brain!
Deletehaving a "spot" to do my quiet time really has made all the difference for me so I totally understand why you made this spot! It's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYou've created a lovely space.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you so much, Amalia. And thanks for stopping by!
Delete