I was not the happiest of campers in my early 30s. My once loved job was now draining every ounce of my being, I’d just had a miscarriage, my husband (bless him, he’s a saint) was a squash coach (Read: seasonal work & low wages) and my tales of woe were growing to the length of my arm. I’d arrive home at the end of a very long day and literally flop onto the couch like a deflated balloon with nothing much more of myself to give. I was gradually going insane. Sound familiar?
Two kids and a decade later, I’ve seen the light at the end of the gloomy tunnel that I just painted of my life BB (before balance) and I’ve come out sane(ish) and smiling (more often than not). Here’s how I’m keeping it together:
Don’t dread Mondays
Cliché I know, but if you start fretting over the arrival of Monday half way through Sunday, chances are you need to make a change. Stop with all the justified excuses and start looking for ways to think (and act) differently.
- Make a list of what is working: This is a happy place to start. What’s good about Monday, your job and your life right now?
- Identify what’s not working: Is it the job, the commute, the boss or the juggle that is getting you down?
- Can anything be changed: Could you resign, change your attitude, get a hobby, travel with a friend?
Play to your strengths
A strength is something you both enjoy and are good at. And that is where we need to be spending a lot more of our time.
- Identify what you are good at: Ask a colleague, partner, friend or even your child what they think you do well, if you can’t figure this one out for yourself.
- What do you love: Now reflect on this list of good things and figure out which of them makes you really happy. Think: If I had to do this all day, would I feel deflated or fully alive?
Note to Mom: Apply this same principle of playing to strengths with your kids. Instead of forcing their extra energy on sports and subjects that are draining for them, if they are great at maths and love maths, give them extra maths so they get even better at what they are good at…you get the picture.
Guilt free living
Feeling guilty about spending too much time at work and too little with yourself/your family or vice versa is an agonising self-imposed and dare I say it, unnecessary emotion. While the thought of doing some ‘goal setting’ might seem like a seriously agonising feat of its own, once you know what you want, it becomes much easier to say ‘No’ to the things that are of no or low value to you, maximising your time, minimising the guilt.
Time is your friend
I get the hamster on the wheel analogy; hell there are times that I get caught on that wheel too, but it’s not a happy place so let’s step off for a moment shall we…
- Create a roster: Remember your old school time table which told you what class you needed to be in when? Well, it’s time to create a weekly blueprint so you know what hat you should be wearing when (guilt free).
Added benefits of working with a weekly blueprint:
- Prevents wasted time in wondering what type of task you should be doing when
- Takes care of the high value high reward tasks earlier in the day while your energy levels are still high
- Working to a schedule helps you get to the point faster. We call it crunching the time container; you might have heard it phrased as “if you want something done, give it to a busy person”.
Breathe
Underrated for sure, but possibly the single biggest solution for preventing impulsive decisions or dare I say it, not so pretty freak-outish reactive reactions. Blushing as I type, I’m not sure why I sometimes forget the elementary mantra “Stop and count to 10” but I do know that when I take a deep breath (in for 4 out for 4, repeat x4) somehow things almost always turn out better.
But this is not the end … sanity saving depends on where you are at and frankly, if I’d typed this up last week, my list might have leaned more to: dancing in the rain, eating chocolate for breakfast, or denouncing super-hero status!
What keeps you sane? Please tell us in the comments.
Quirky, focused & fun are words used to describe Tracey Foulkes, productivity trainer, motivational speaker and CEO of Get Organised. If you want your team to be inspired to operate outside of the box, contact her for a complimentary productivity assessment.
Image Credit: www.sheknows.com
The post 5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity Hat On: Business + Kids appeared first on Momtrepreneur.