There is no denying the fact that I’ve been extra stressed out these days. I’ve been overbooking my time and extending my commitments so much that I’ve turned into a real basket case. If you know me in real life I’ve probably been short with you or seemed like a mad woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown and I’m sorry. Since coming home from SNAP I’ve had a million great ideas to do, new “best” practices to implement and a lot of really amazing opportunities to get on board with! I also have three needy kids, an amazing husband and a great group of friends. I am so grateful to have each and every one of these things in my life, and on the same token so overwhelmed.
I’ve been thinking about my space here in the internet. How I wish I had the time and energy to devote to creating amazing content for you each and every single day. I’ve fallen victim to the comparison game, which never ends well. I’ve wondered how I can be so fortunate to have so many positive things in my life and yet still feel inadequate as a mother, a wife a blogger and a friend. I don’t feel like I’ve been giving 100% of myself to anything or anyone, but especially not myself.
So. I am going to stop saying yes to everything. Or at least try really hard to. It’s not quite as easy as it sounds, you know what I mean. I am going to scale back the frequency of my posts so that when I do share something with you, you can be sure that it is my best. I am going to make time to do things that I want to do, instead of always rushing to meet some impending deadline. I am going to make time for my kids. Time that is uninterrupted by my phone, my email, my pictures and my blog. I have developed a bad habit of carrying my phone (which is like a mini tablet I swear) with me everywhere, which means that every time I get an email, a Facebook comment, a text message or a phone call I am ripped from whatever I was previously doing to react to it. This is no good for those people who are contacting me or for the people I am trying to spend time with.
I am going to attempt to set office hours. Just typing that out sounds nearly impossible. But I am going to try, which is all I can do. I am going to start leaving my phone tucked away in another room when I am not working. With summer break coming and my kids about to be home full time I don’t want to miss out on all the fun we could be having by constantly being stressed out about something that in reality can wait. They can’t wait. They are growing up so ridiculously fast. Faster than I care to admit. I measured them on the wall the other day and in three months two of them had each grown and inch and a half! How?! Why!?
One of the things I am going to try is setting a flexible schedule. I had this empty wall in my office that was begging for something. I was given this chalkboard weekly schedule from Wallternatives a while back and I think that it is going to really help. Just like the rest of the vinyl in my home this was as easy to apply as peel, stick, peel! The best part though is that it is a chalkboard surface. And it isn’t permanent, which means that if it doesn’t end up being the answer to all my problems, I won’t have to repaint a wall. I’ll just peel it off and it’ll be like it never happened. The best part is that the Wallternatives company is offering 10% off everything now through June 16th AND you can get free shipping on all orders over $25. Now I don’t get anything by you clicking on these links, I just really think they are awesome. I am really hoping that this will help me ease my crazy mind and help me find some balance between my work life and my personal life.
I am always looking for suggestions though. How do you balance it all? Do you keep a schedule? Do you have technology free time? Do you set up dates with your kids and/or hubby? Let me know what you do to de-stress and keep your sanity! Oh and if you go like Wallternatives on Facebook you will be entered to win a $50 gift card, but hurry winners will be chosen on June 9th!
Shelly says
It’s SO hard trying to balance it all! I’m trying to set better boundaries myself especially with the summer break starting here on Thursday!
Ashley Emmett says
My son gets out of school on Friday and I am so totally not ready!
Steph @ Crafting in the Rain says
Oh my gosh, I have the same problem! “Yes” all over the place 🙂 I’m trying to figure out how to take it easy during the summer too 🙂
Ashley Emmett says
I turned off all my notifications on my phone and amazingly it has made a world of difference in my stress levels! I didn’t realize how much I worried and checked that all day!
Jillene@inkhappi says
Ashley, thanks for sharing this. I love love, LOVE this Wallternatives and think it is great for your office. I, like many bloggers can relate somewhat to what you are feeling. I go in and out of those phases myself a lot! I am going to share some of my blog planners in an upcoming post. Something I find helpful is to limit social media to certain times. I am on social media a lot because i spend so much time on my computer working on design things so I check my accounts periodically but I don’t get notifications on my phone. I think those are just interruptions. Check it on your own time. An hour or 3 hours won’t make a difference when it comes to social media and it will limit the stress level and the distractions of where those notifications can take you. Also 2 or 3 really good posts are better than 5 or 6 you aren’t as satisfied with along with extra stress. I am learning these things too… 😉 You are great though! It will all come together. Sometimes it all piles up and there is so much we want to do but you will get on top of it.
Ashley Emmett says
Thanks so much for your words of wisdom. I think I am going to try turning off the notifications on my phone. I might go through withdrawals at first, but in the end I think it will be well worth it for my sanity! I can’t wait to see your blog planners, maybe I’ll find something that makes it all click in my head!