And so September draws to a close. What a blur! One day I will experience a calm and quiet September but I don’t think it will be for many years! lol
Back to school, kids sports and lessons kicking off, prospective clients calling about booking strategy sessions, clients booking coaching sessions after taking the summer off, business meetings ramping up, and on top of this typical September activity I am trying to pack up the house as we prepare for our move out and upcoming renovations. Last week, I was feeling overwhelmed by it all.
However I am an old hand at feeling overwhelmed AND getting myself out of it, and I willl share six techniques I used this past month which got me out of overwhelm and helped save my bacon.
1. Having a meal plan-
Ideally having five days of meals planned out, or at the very least, three. Know what you are preparing and make sure you have all the ingredients in house. This will save you time and and energy, keep things running smoothly on the home front and ensure that you are eating nutritious foods.
2. Early bedtimes-
During the last few weeks of summer my husband and I got into a habit of staying up late watching TV. This caught up with us in early September when my eldest son was waking up at 4:30-5:00AM anxious about the coming school day (which meant we were waking up at 4:30-5:00AM!). We started going up at 9:00-9:30PM so we could do some quiet reading, wind down and fall asleep at a decent time. This made for much better mornings!
3. Keeping up the exercise-
During stressful times regular exercise can be the first thing to go. However, it is when we are at our busiest and most harried that we need to get our heart pumping and move our body. Since January I have pre-booked and pre-paid, a bi-weekly workout at my gym. This means I will get out of bed and get to that 6:25AM class on a consistent basis.
This arrangement has been working really well for me and since January I have only missed two classes due to illness. When I attended my old gym which was a ‘show up when you feel like it’ and ‘work out on your own’ arrangement, it was much easier to take a pass or go, but not work out to the best of my abilities. Pre-booked and pre-paid small group training is the way to go for me now.
4. Doing a ‘Mind Dump’ and using a ‘Priority / ‘Non-Priority’ list when overwhelmed-
If you participated in the Passion Dream Challenge or have been following me for awhile you may remember these two tools. I had to use them last week as I was getting bogged down by all my ‘To Do’s’.
I took all the thoughts swirling around in my head and captured them on paper. Immediately I felt lighter. Then I sorted them into one of the two columns. Was this item a ‘Priority’ or a ‘Non-Priority?’ Seeing my ‘To Do’s’ noted in their respective columns instantly made me feel more organized and capable and I knew I could handle all I needed to do.
5. Use a ‘Daily Compass’ every day-
The second step after doing a ‘Mind Dump’ and a ‘Priority / ‘Non-Priority’ list is having a ‘Daily Compass’. From my ‘Priority’ list I then take the top three items I need to get done today and I write them down and put the paper where I can see it.
If I am working at my desk my ‘DC’ is next to my computer, if I’m in the kitchen it’s taped to a cupboard, if I am out it’s on my phone. Then, regardless of how nutso the day gets I will not be thrown off track. I can look at the ‘DC’ and be reminded of my true priorities and focus on what really needs to get done.
6. Have an ‘Anchor’ to remind you of your goals-
Keeping our eyes on the sweet things in life helps us to stay joyful and not get bogged down in the day to day minutiae. I have a friend who said she always has to have something to look forward to like a holiday to keep her feeling good.
One of my big goals is to go on a safari in Africa and there is one specific company I want to travel with and the cost of their safaris? Well let’s just say you would not call them inexpensive! 🙂 I am not in a position to go on this trip anytime soon but regardless, I have signed up for their e-mails and love getting their newsletter and being reminded that this is a treasured goal of mine.
Newsletters or e-mails from this safari company act as an ‘anchor’ to my big goal and reminds me that this is what I want to do, and that there are delicious things in store for me if I stay on track with my dreams. I had one of their e-mails pop into my in-box yesterday, with news about three new leopard cubs and it was a welcome treat!
If you haven’t done so already, I recommend you create some kind of similar ‘anchor’s in your life. This can be a vision board with pictures on it that represent your dreams or having a password on your work computer that reminds you every day of one of your wild and juicy goals. Use these ‘anchors’ to keep your dreams alive and present in your everyday life.
Want more tools like these?
There you have it my friend, six essential survival skills that will help you get through ANY month with joy and ease.
If these tools resonated with you and you want to take things further, check out Passion Dream School my 6 week e-course all about creating a more beautiful and peaceful life. It is chock full of techniques like these as well as videos, audios and more!, AND I am offerring $100 off until Friday, September 29th at midnight. Correction! – Now extended to Sunday, October 1st at midnight as I was slow to get the information out on social media 🙂 !
If you want to de-clutter your world (mentally and physically), get some more awesome coaching tools like these, and create a more gorgeous life, get my fun and easy e-course HERE
xo
Elizabeth