What is a 'Say No' Retreat? The New Way to Clear Your Calendar

The latest form of self-care might involve sitting at home and cancelling plans.

It's called a “say no” retreat, and unlike most wellness retreats, there are no massages, yoga classes or cucumber water involved.

Instead, you dedicate a day to looking at everything you've committed to over the next few weeks or months and asking yourself one very important question:

“Do I actually want or need to do this?”

How Does a “Say No” Retreat Work?

Start by going through your calendar and making a list of upcoming commitments.

Think appointments, social plans, volunteer commitments, trips, events, favours you've promised people and anything else you see on the calendar that immediately makes you sigh.

Then you start deciding what actually deserves your time.

The idea isn't to cancel your entire life and become a hermit. It's about identifying the things you've agreed to simply because you felt obligated, guilty, afraid of disappointing someone or worried you'd miss out.

And you don't have to begin with something huge.

Start with one easy commitment you don't really need or want to attend and politely decline or cancel it.

Because sometimes we say “yes” automatically and don't realize until later that we've just given away three hours of a Saturday we desperately wanted for ourselves.

RELATED: Just Say No: To Holiday Parties…

Apparently, Saying No Is Self-Care Now

The bigger idea behind the retreat is creating some breathing room in your life before your calendar becomes completely overloaded.

Instead of waiting until you're exhausted and desperately hoping someone texts “Sorry, we have to cancel tonight,”you're proactively deciding which commitments are actually worth your time.

And let's admit it. There are few notifications more beautiful than:

“Hey, can we reschedule?”

Absolutely.

Take all the time you need.

Maybe even several years.