The Day Wonder Woman had to take off her heels

I am a part of this group of about 8 people. We text one another every single day. Whether it's to announce good news, share pics of having a good time, saying I miss you, or encouraging one another we are always there.  Well this morning one of our group members asked us to pray for her because she's been feeling overwhelmed lately. I immediately responded.

"When you are feeling overwhelmed it's time to reevaluate everything you're doing"

 While I'm praying for you I want you to sit down, take note of everything you're doing and decide what you can let go. If not let go think about a better, more efficient way of getting things done. We often times feel like we HAVE to do it all. But i have found out that we don't and it's perfectly fine to NOT do it all. If that means you pass on a couple invitations then do that.  You have to take care of YOU first to properly take care of others.  That's why i take Sunday afternoon naps. 3 hour nap every Sunday. I earn that nap. My family respects that nap. Hubby enforces that nap.  That is me taking care of me. It's a restart button."

Before I knew it others chimed in with their encouraging advice. 

"Down time is even more important when your primary place of employment is the home....sometimes you are on the clock 24/7 without realizing it and giving yourself time for yourself.  

"Force yourself to get some off the clock time; at least a little"

 each day and at least one major break once a week....Put everything on hold.  You have to first this to take care of yourself.  And little "me time outs" everyday😊"

"When feeling overwhelmed use the "calm" app.  It's cool.  Just relax for a couple of minutes and have some tea.  I agree. See what u can cancel out.  And don't forget... U have a great set of friends.  Let them babysit....not for date night... But "me " night!"

The Conversation went one and I suggested a number of ways to do things more efficiently and encouraged her to put them to use.  I want to share those with you.  

These are small, simple actions that will in turn put a sort of "slow down" to your day enough for you to breath and enjoy some of it.

Iron the night before.  Seriously it takes the same amount of time as doing it in the morning but it moves it from your first things to do check list to the end of the day.  If you really want to plan ahead, check the weather for the week and iron a week's worth of clothing.  That takes care of looking for and ironing clothes which gifts you spare time for you

Pre-pack snacks.  If you have children that still snack then go ahead and pack snacks in small ziploc bags.  You can keep them in a designated space.  That way when it is snack time if they are old enough they can just go grab their own snack.  They would love being able to pick and choose for themselves and you don't have to stop what you are doing to make it. (Suggestions: grapes, crackers, breakfast bars, gold fish, sliced veggies)

Double your meals when cooking and FREEZE.  This is a big help!  I actually got this idea from one of my sisters.  I cook from Sunday to Thursday (Friday and Saturdays are the easy days where I take it easy)  Well since I am already cooking why not double lit and save it for a "rainy day".  By rainy day I mean days when I am sick, tired, have plans, or just flat out don't feel like cooking. On these days the Hubs can grab a freezer meal and just heat it up.  (Suggestions on meals to freeze: lasagna, chicken, chili, pulled pork etc).  The idea is to have backup for those overwhelming days.  Putting food away for another day is genius. I mean squirrels do it! LOL 

Pick a laundry day and stick to it.  It's really important to stick to your schedule if you want to have a more manageable life.  Laundry days are important.  Don't wait until you don't have any clean clothes left to wash.  Pick a day that isn't already over scheduled and wash.  I usually pick Sundays after church.  I plan to do at least three loads.  To make laundry day less dreadful I  usually try to find a series or good movie on Netflix to distract me and before you know it my laundry is washed, folded and put away AND I am ready for the week.  Washing more regularly means you are washing smaller loads.  The sight of dirty clothes piled up alone is stressful.  So get a day and STICK TO IT!

Say "No Thanks" (often).  Listen you have to learn how to do this with no apologies or guilt.  Sometimes a NO can make a difference between you being super busy to pooped and worn completely out.  If you already have a lot going on and someone invites you out to an event, while it may be fun or for a great cause it is perfectly OK to say no thank you.  Choose You!  

Plan with a purpose.  You don't have to stay booked.  You don't have to fill every minute of the day with something.  Plan what works best for you and be sure to pencil in down time.  When you are beginning to feel overwhelmed start asking yourself questions like "is this really necessary?" "Is this something I can get away with NOT doing?" "will things still be OK if I don't do this?" "Is there someone else I can ask to do this instead?"  When planning with a purpose the key word there is PURPOSE...what is the purpose behind what you are doing?  If you answer has a lot to do with making someone else happy then there is where you begin to cut back.  I'm not saying don't do for others I am simply saying when you get to the point of burning then you have to switch into selfish mode and take care of you 

There are a lot more things you can do to make sure you don't go insane and burn yourself out.  These are just a few that were shared that day.  It's important to not only look out for yourself but like we all did in this situation, look out for others. You may not be the one that is overwhelmed at the moment but pay attention to your friends and loved ones.  If they seem overwhelmed or like they just need a timeout, be their timeout and help out where you can.  Continue to take care of one another but especially take care of you.