Category Archives: Stress Less
Work Hard, Play Hard
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy –James Howell
With all these posts about planning and getting the most out of your day, let’s not forgot the importance of devoting some free time to ourselves and family. It is important for our health and longevity to make sure we give ourselves some time to relax and have a good time.
If you keep a calendar, remember to block out time for yourself and/or family and don’t feel guilty doing it. These moments are what make for good memories and happy people.
As a self-employed working mother, I know it can be extremely difficult trying to find a good balance between work time and free time, but both are important parts of our lives. When I first started working from home, I felt guilty no matter what I was doing; working, cleaning the house, spending time with family or trying to make time for myself. We have to remind ourselves that each is important and that when we give that aspect of our life attention, it is because it is important. Finding the right balance is difficult but very important so that each is getting the time that is needed, and that all depends on each individual and their priorities.
Life is meant to be enjoyed, and it is possible even if you have a heavy work load.
Planning Day
If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. –Lucille Ball
Why do you think this saying is true?
As a working mother of three, I have found that my weeks are generally packed pretty tight. Trying to juggle all my obligations can be a real challenge. That is why I started a planning day.
Every Sunday, I try to sit down, look over my calendar and make a list of everything that I need to accomplish for the week. After I get my list together, I divide them up by which day I need/want to accomplish the tasks. If I didn’t complete anything from the prior week, I add it to my new list.
I like to use a Weekly Planner notepad that I purchased from Michael’s, similar to the one seen below, but it doesn’t have to be fancy (if you consider a $1 notepad fancy). I love to see it all down, and just love when I cross off all my tasks for a day. And I’ll admit, sometimes, when I don’t get to the things on my list, I add some tasks that I did do that day just so I can cross them off:)
I have found that writing down what I need to do helps me to think clear, accomplish more and helps me from over scheduling myself. It generally only takes 10-15 minutes a week, but saves me a lot of time and headache. I encourage you to try it, you’ll be amazed how much it can give you such peace of mind!
Mental Mind Blocks
All of us have felt overwhelmed at some point or another. Some people seem to be better at it than others. Not really a trait one would hope to have as a talent. Fear and worry are unhealthy and unproductive emotions. Mastering these reactions can help us to become more successful in all aspects of our lives.
Take a minute and ponder on these questions;
- What make you feel overwhelmed?
- How has this emotion helped to solve the problem?
- What do you do that feeds into this unproductive burden?
Coming to the realization that stressing about something does nothing but create ulcers can help us gain control of these unnecessary feelings. Do you often feel overwhelmed by chores, phone calls or other work? Do you find yourself waking up at 2 AM to stress about them? Is it working to your advantage? Probably not.
Realizing it is half the battle. How do you gain control? It probably won’t happen overnight, but as you change you mindset and convenience yourself to stop fretting, you can slowly master your anxiety. The solution will all depend on timing and each individual’s personality. We will explore these in later blogs.
When we come to a realization that “today is not forever,” we can spend less time worrying and more time enjoying. We will always have work to do and problems to solve, how we approach it makes all the difference.
Let’s gain better control of these emotions, it will ultimately make us happier people!
Mayhem Managed 