When You’re Doing Too Much

I have absolutely no problem telling my husband not to make plans for us. Actually, the crazier things get, the easier it is for me to say no. No, I don’t want to go out for dinner. No, I don’t want company this evening. I have things that need to get done and if they don’t get done in a timely manner, I’ll be staying up late to do them and this mama won’t be particularly happy in the morning.

These days, I write a lot of things down – ideas and lists, mostly. Ironically, I always seem to think of things when I’m either at work or in bed. Go figure, right? I can’t even tell you how many post-it notes are sitting in a neat little stack on my desk right now.

I also sometimes nap when my son naps – I’m not productive when I’m exhausted, so if I start feeling like I’m beating my head against a wall, I usually just join him for his next regularly-scheduled nap. Getting some sleep does wonders for a person’s overall disposition.

And once in a while, I call in some backup – both sets of our parents are more than happy to take the little guy for a few hours or whatever it is that the situation calls for. I very rarely go this route because I want to spend time with him as well and I already feel like I don’t see enough of him during the week. If it absolutely comes down to it, though, it’s an option.

I do everything that I possibly can to stay organized and keep myself on a schedule. I have certain things that I routinely do on the same nights each week. There’s definitely room for improvement and it’s still a work in progress, but I’m trying my best to have as much structure around here as I reasonably can.

How do you handle feeling overwhelmed? Leave a comment and share how you regroup.

Written by: Cristi Wuenschel