683 - PTO Time Just for ME! Modern Self Care

Nov 7, 2025

Discover the power of personal PTO as one woman transforms her staycation into a self-care haven. Balancing family time, she plans to catch up on three years of scrapbooking before a grandbaby arrives. With productive moments spent organizing photos and work materials, she redefines productivity. A delightful shopping spree brings a refreshing update to her wardrobe, while preparation for family events and future travel keeps her on track. This journey inspires women to embrace their time off meaningfully.

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ANECDOTE

Taking PTO As A Personal Reset

Lisa decided to take her full planned PTO at home after cancelling the Italy trip and used it as a personal reset.
She framed the time as a transition between finishing her PhD and new family and business chapters.

ADVICE

Schedule Your Staycation Like Appointments

Block time on your calendar for personal activities and treat them like appointments.
Layer family obligations and personal projects so you know optimal times to help others and to focus on yourself.

ANECDOTE

Grandbaby Nap Turned Photo Order Session

While rocking her grandson, Lisa used the quiet time to order hundreds of printed photos for scrapbooking.
She printed 700–800 photos to catch up three years of memories and to prepare Grayson's albums before the new baby arrives.

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This may have been a first, once we decided to not go to Italy, I decided to take my full planned vacation and Greg decided to go back to work. We had our 4 day staycation but the rest of the planned time off was all mine. How did I spend it?

Golden Window

I am definitely in a unique-to-me Golden Window. The PhD is winding down, we are making massive shifts at work, and I will soon be the grandma of two heartbeats. As I realized I was going to have a lot of time to do whatever I wanted I asked myself what that should be. I plugged Greg into my calendar with the things we wanted to do. Then I looked at Abby's calendar to see went the optimal time was to spend time with her and getting her ready for the baby. I did end up spending a 4 hour block of time in the office on Sat. morning but it gave me the opportunity to bring home some Workboxes I've been wanting to clean out and organize. I also took a little time to fill in my home and work 2 and ½ year planners.

Scrapbooking

On Sunday Afternoon I got the best treat, Grayson fell asleep on me for about 90 minutes. But you know me, I'm productive. So while I was trapped in grandma heaven I ordered pictures. Because one of my initiatives once the PhD is done, is to get back to scrapbooking. So I ordered pictures and loved on Grayson. During this time off I was able to get a lot of sorting of pictures done and now I feel ready to start #allthescrapbooks

Shopping Like it was the 80's

And then I had a friend who was going to kind of be on standby for Abby and Grayson while we were gone who said "Ya know, I still have that time free, do you want to do something?" I did! I wanted to go shopping. We took two whole days shopping. We thoroughly went through the women's department in each store and just took our time. This made going through my closet fun too. I did a little rearranging of what's in my closet with the newest modification of Hunter (our dog) sleeping in my closet now. I am ready for this next phase of life.

And we checked out Costco and Sam's Club. I wanted to compare products that they offered. And I knew Sam's Club had the diapers and wipes I wanted to stock up on for the baby. This grandma is ready for grandbaby number 2!

As the week came to and end, I had the choice to go back into the office on Thursday or take one more day to myself. I talked myself into staying home. I got to get to some binders, workboxes, and slash pockets I'd been wanting to. I got to grab high tea with my cousin and after we went for a nice long walk. With the baby coming and the hurry up and wait game with the dissertation, I knew to maximize on this time. Self care is more than a massage. I wanted to share how I spent my time, to give you ideas of different ways of self care.

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