Too much on my plate

Day 21 of Blog Every Day in May  (Catching up – again)

Do you ever get the feeling that maybe you have bitten off more than you can chew? Overcommitted yourself and feel like you are drowning? Well that is kind of how I am feeling right now. So a blog prompt asking me ‘whats on my plate’ could have gone two ways – the literal sense of a photograph of what was on plate, or a reflection on all of the things I have I have on my plate that are making me feel like I am drowning.

I’m a mum of three kids who I love dearly, I work full-time, and I am studying full time for an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design (formalising my qualifications after years of learning on the job). So I have a lot on my plate. All totally my own doing so I am not looking for sympathy at all. It is what it is. With all the busy-ness I have developed some strategies to help me keep on top of things so I thought I would share some of them.

1. Lists – I’m a list maker – always have been, always will. I used to write down these massive lists of everything that I had to do and then feel even more overwhelmed. So on the recommendation of a good friend of mine, I started breaking that massive list down into more achievable lists of three things. Those three things could even be smaller tasks that will eventually lead to the completion of a task on the main list. And I am not ashamed to say that some days (particularly on weekends) I need to add ‘have a shower’ to that list.
2. Make time for yourself – go for a walk, visit a friend, do some craft, see a movie. Just make time for you or the drowning feeling will keep getting worse. Make time to do something you enjoy.
3. Exercise – for me a run or a game of touch football really helps blow off some steam. It gets those endorphins flowing – natural happy drugs.
4. Get more sleep – sleep is important in times of stress. I know its easier said than done when you have a million things running through your mind, but taking yourself to bed just a bit earlier each day could make all the difference.
5. Accept – sometimes things are out of our control and you just need to accept that and move on. Accept is my One Little Word for the year (see my post about that) and it has become a bit of a mantra for me. I made a 3×4 card that I have printed multiple copies of and stuck up in prominent places – like on my wall at work and on the fridge.

One Little Word – ACCEPT

So that’s my take on whats on my plate. I hope you find some of my tips useful.