So lets get real for a second....
As you can see I haven't posted anything for a while. The last things I posted were last minute, as I was traveling and hadn't finished them beforehand so I could schedule them to go out on their own. I talked a little bit about my right now in one of those
posts, but I want to elaborate...for my purposes.
Somewhere within the last couple of months, my life has spun out of control. It seems as if everything took off around the same time. I've been going like this for so long, I can't even remember how long things have been this way. There used to be a time at work when things moved along at a snail-like pace. I was able to get work done in a timely manner as well as take care of some personal business on the side. (It's hard to take care of personal business during the work week when you work during most businesses office hours).
Somewhere along the work road, tasks started being handed out left and right. I started being unable to keep up with my tasks in my head and started feeling overwhelmed with all I knew I had to do, but couldn't remember. On top of that, things in my personal life were starting to spin out of control as well. Not being able to take care of personal business at work began to affect leisure time I had at home to wind down from the days going-ons. I got behind in things I needed to get done for church. I discovered I truly enjoyed blogging but was unable to blog...not only that, but I was unable to delve into other bloggers websites like I wanted to, so I felt I wasn't able to enjoy the blog experience as a whole. Coming home and having to figure out what to cook, having to figure out what to wear for work the next day, doing my hair which ranged anywhere from a couple of minutes to 20 and 30 minutes...it all just started to be too taxing.
My mind doesn't work as well as it should once I become overwhelmed. When I get to the point where I feel like I have too much stuff going on and I can't get a hold of it all, my mind stops retaining information and I have a harder time grasping on to information. I go into get-things-done mode. This mode allows me to get stuff done, but what's produced isn't as effective or efficient as it would be if I weren't overwhelmed. Also when I'm in this mode, I feel the need to make myself make time for fun, but even fun starts to feel like another task being added on to my list of things to do.
There are so many things I need to get done, but the truth is, I don't want to do any of it. I want a fresh start with everything. But, life doesn't work that way. My hope is that by the end of this month things will have slowed down everywhere (work, church, home). I want work things to get done at work. I want church things to be done in a timely manner. I want my leisure time to be just that and I want to spend time doing things I want to do and enjoy doing...not using my leisure time to worry about a task list.
I wish I could get away...for at least a week. But since I can't, I'm trying all I can to trick my mind into not feeling so overwhelmed. Here are just a few things I've realized I need to do.
1. Sleep
My CB told me I had bags under my eyes; bags I'd noticed before, but thought were figments of my imagination. Nobody every said anything about them, so I thought I was making them up. I guess not. I let myself slept for 10.5 hours last night!!...and I didn't feel guilty about it. Although there were things I should have been doing, I was tired, so I slept. I felt like I could have come home tonight and done the same thing, but the task list awaits me. I told my sister about my sleep and she told me about sleep debt. Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep you should be getting and the amount of sleep you actually get. I read
this article and figured out I need to repay my sleep debt. This realization made me feel even better about all that sleeping I did yesterday.
2. Relax
I need to get more structured about my home time. There are a number of things that need to get accomplished while I'm at home. It helps me to write things down and actually see all I need to do...I'm a visual learner. I need to see myself chopping away at the task list (it's that Libra organization in me...see
here). I've made a list for my work tasks but I've been avoiding this for my home tasks...NO MORE!! I've got to nip this thing in the bud...and quickly.
While needing to get my tasks accomplished, I still need to make time for me. I have, however, decided to cut back on things like blogging, watching TV, being on the computer/iPad, etc. Even though I haven't really had time to do any of these things recently, they are all things that consume so much unintended time. Truth be told, I've missed blogging so much because it's a getaway for me. I'm so glad to have people actually following me, reading my material, and engaging with me through my blog.
I WILL respond to every single comment and I will be more engaging in other bloggers websites. So, because I want to do that, I will not be posting as much...BUT I promise at least one post a week (for now).
3. Health
Stop skipping over things I need to be doing regularly...drinking more water, moisturizing skin - from head to toe, eating right, etc. Skipping over these things doesn't save that much time and will only hurt me in the long run.
I'll never allow myself to get back to how things were in 2010. I always reference this point in my life because I want to remember what it was like to feel that way so I can always avoid getting to that point again. I will not do it. Nothing is worth that.
So, I'm in recovery!! LOL..gotta get things back on track!
How do you guys deal with stress and feeling overwhelmed?!?
Sometimes you just have to get some things off your chest: