Since moving to Munich I’ve been learning to take time, a luxury I’ve realised I haven’t been making the most of.

When I think back to the days of secondary school, I’m really quite amazed at my younger self, and the fact that I never just collapsed in a heap in from the sheer amount of things I used to get done. Naturally there was school and homework, which I never missed, there were after school sports, then other sports outside of school because indoor snowboarding was a thing. There was a part time job which was often the precursor to a social activity that I’d head to one the shift was over, and I took an extra A-level for the fun of it. Through all of this I some how held down a far more active social life than I have now and I was much better at texting back.

I was a busy little bee to whom time was there to be used, and cramming time full seemed like the way to make the most of it. As I moved on to University I kept up this habit of constant motion and activity; making friends with housemates, joining a sports club, writing for the student newspaper and working part time again. The wonderful thing about signing yourself up for an array of activities, is that you meet lots of people, and people at University like going out, so there was lots of that too. Oh and there was the studying of course, and the classes, which once again I never missed.

I have now reached the ripe old age of 28, and since getting home on Friday evening I’ve left the house precisely twice; once yesterday to pick up a friend’s wedding dress with her, and then this morning – for brunch. At University I seemed to leave the house an average of 3 times a day. My weekends these days often involve evenings watching TV and looking online at things to buy for the house. I got asked to do something on Thursday evening last week but I said no, and gave the honest reason of needing some down time at home. My social stamina just isn’t what it used to be.

Having spent so long burning the candle at both ends I know that it’s something I can do, and that I can manage, but I’ve come to realise that it’s no longer something that I enjoy. It turns out that you don’t need to fill your time to be making the most of it, time is a luxury and I am learning to treat it that way, because it may not always be a luxury I have an abundance of.

My younger self probably would have planned in a coffee before the wedding dress appointment yesterday and a lunch for afterwards, but instead I gave this appointment all the time I had on Saturday and it was a wonderful experience. Having to rush from one thing to the next means constantly thinking about following events, and never truly concentrating on any of them, or at least that has been my recent experience and I’m happy to be learning how to adjust, at least whilst the time is there to be had.