There’s a funny thing about “me time.”
We tend to picture it as something big: an entire quiet morning. A free Saturday. A long bath with no one knocking on the door. A whole afternoon curled up with a book and nowhere else to be.
Which sounds lovely.
It also sounds… slightly fictional some weeks.
Between work and family and appointments and laundry and practices and errands and the 47 tiny things that somehow need our attention every single day, waiting for a big stretch of free time can mean waiting a very, very long time.
So around here, we’re big believers in the tiny pockets instead.
Ten minutes before everyone else wakes up. Fifteen minutes sitting in the car before pickup. A chapter before bed. A walk around the block with an audiobook. A cup of coffee that you actually drink while it’s still hot.
They’re not extravagant. They’re not particularly Instagram-worthy. But they count.
Here are 10 ways to find a few more of those little pockets in your day.
1. Stop waiting for an hour
This might be the biggest one.
If you only pick up your book when you know you have an hour to read, or start a craft when you have an entire evening free, those things can easily keep getting pushed to “later.”
Try asking instead: What could I do with 10 minutes?
Read five pages. Add a few rows to your crochet project. Color one little section. Sit outside with your coffee. Do absolutely nothing. Wendy and Sarah both gravitate to the outdoors -- bird watching, garden tending, quick walks.
Ten minutes counts.
2. Keep something you love within reach
Make your favorite things easy to choose.
Leave your current book on the coffee table instead of tucked onto a shelf. Keep a little craft project in a basket beside your favorite chair. Put a crossword book in your bag. Download an audiobook before you leave the house.
The fewer steps between you and something enjoyable, the more likely you are to reach for it when an unexpected pocket of time appears.
Wendy has a book with her at ALL times. Most of her reading in 2025 was done in field/stadium/school parking lots.
3. Claim the waiting time
Waiting at soccer practice. Sitting at the dentist. Getting to school pickup 15 minutes early. Waiting for water to boil or dinner to finish cooking.
We spend a surprising amount of our lives waiting.
Instead of automatically filling every one of those moments with scrolling, bring along something that actually feels like a little treat: a book, an audiobook, a tiny portable craft, a journal or even just your favorite playlist.
4. Pair something you have to do with something you want to do
Laundry + audiobook.
Dog walk + favorite podcast.
Dinner prep + great playlist.
Morning commute + the book you’ve been dying to listen to.
Not every chore can magically become delightful, but adding something you genuinely enjoy can make an ordinary part of your day feel a little more like yours.
5. Create a tiny ritual
Maybe it’s ten minutes of reading with your morning coffee.
Maybe you sit on the porch after dinner.
Maybe Wednesday night is face mask + book night.
Maybe you make tea before you work on a craft.
It doesn’t need to be elaborate. In fact, we think the best rituals usually aren’t. They’re just small ways of telling yourself: this little piece of the day belongs to me.
Wendy does 30 minutes of NY Times puzzles and Duolingo nearly every morning before she does all the things for all the other people.
6. Put your phone somewhere else
We love our phones. We also somehow pick them up to check one thing and emerge 27 minutes later knowing far too much about a stranger’s kitchen renovation.
Try putting yours in another room for 15 or 20 minutes.
Then see what you naturally reach for instead.
You might be surprised how much time was hiding there all along.
Wendy and Sarah use an app called "Forest" to grow trees (during which time you can't be on your device).
7. Make a “15-minute me time” list
Sometimes the free time appears…and then we spend half of it deciding what to do.
Make yourself a little menu of things you genuinely enjoy that can fit into 5, 10 or 15 minutes.
Read a chapter. Sit outside. Work on a puzzle. Doodle. Stretch. Call a friend. Make a fancy coffee. Walk around the block. Add a few stitches to a project. Flip through a magazine. Listen to three favorite songs.
When the pocket appears, you already have ideas waiting.
8. Let yourself stop before something is finished
This one can be hard for us.
You do not have to finish the chapter.
You don’t have to complete the craft.
You don’t have to walk three miles for the walk to “count.”
You can read seven pages, paint half the thing, walk for 12 minutes or work on a puzzle until someone needs you again.
Something unfinished can still be something enjoyed.
9. Occasionally choose the fun thing first
There will always be another load of laundry.
There will always be an email you could answer, a counter you could wipe down or something you could organize.
Sometimes — not always, but sometimes — read the chapter first.
Drink the coffee on the porch first.
Do the craft first.
The responsible thing will still be there in 20 minutes.
10. Remember that rest doesn’t have to be productive
Maybe your tiny pocket of time isn’t reading a book, finishing a craft, going for a walk or checking something off a list.
Maybe you sit.
Maybe you stare out the window.
Maybe you drink something delicious without simultaneously doing six other things.
Maybe you lie on the couch and listen to a song.
You don’t have to turn every free minute into an accomplishment.
Sometimes the whole point is simply that, for a few minutes, nobody needs anything from you.
Tiny pockets still count
We’d love to hand every one of you an uninterrupted afternoon, a cozy chair, your favorite drink and a magical guarantee that no one will ask what’s for dinner.
Until we figure out how to put that in a Craft’n Pages box, we’ll keep cheering for the smaller moments.
The ten-minute chapters.
The audiobook walks.
The half-finished crafts waiting beside the couch.
The coffee on the porch.
The few quiet minutes before the rest of the house wakes up.
Because taking time for yourself doesn’t always require finding more hours in the day.
Sometimes it’s simply noticing the little pieces that are already there — and giving yourself permission to keep one of them for you.
