Finding peace while being super busy can be tough.
My life has been really busy lately. I’ve got my full time job that is taking up full time hours, plus any extra skills upgrading that I’ve managed to sneak in. My running has been claiming several hours per week, with my long run lasting around two hours plus four shorter runs. The wedding is only three months away and of course I’ve got the blog and my staff writing commitments to attend to. I often feel like I’m running around all day and I haven’t even mentioned committing time to my family, my fiance and my pets.
Managing It All
So far, I’ve been managing it all. My runs are on schedule, my job performance is up to par, and I hope that my blog posts are too. The wedding is getting planned, booked and scheduled, slowly but surely, and my fiance doesn’t think I’ve completely disappeared on him. I’ve even managed to kill two birds with one stone by taking the dog on my outdoor runs.
I know that this extremely busy life I’ve been leading lately is only going to last a few more months, so I’ve been attacking each day with what I hope resembles enthusiasm and vigour. It’s not like I haven’t been this busy before, I have. In University I was definitely more busy than this, and much more stressed, and I handled that, so I can handle this.
Still, it’s taxing, and being so busy is starting to get to me. There are times when I should be doing 18 different things, but all I want to do is lay down and watch ten straight episodes of Downton Abby. The problem is, even if I did end up doing that, I’m so preoccupied with everything on my to-do list that I can’t even relax. Learning to find peace in the craziness can be tough sometimes, but there are a few ways that I try to find it.
Lean On Someone
I don’t know what I’d do without my fiance to talk me down from the ledge when I start to go all crazy. Sometimes I’ll get stressed and start to feel like everything I’m trying to accomplish is just too much to handle over the next three months. When this happens, I can count on him to remind me that life isn’t too crazy, and yes, I can achieve everything I’ve set out to do.
Make “You” Time
I used to think that my “me” time was my running time. When my schedule got me up to running five days per week, it started to feel less like “me” time and more like a chore. There are times when I really enjoy it, but there are also times where the last thing I want to do is haul my butt off the couch and go run up and down a hill. So, I’m reading the Game of Thrones series for my “me” time. It’s been great to disappear into another world, even if it’s only for 20 minutes at a time.
Schedule Everything
I schedule time to answer emails, time to walk the dog, even time to watch TV with the fiance. I’m not crazy about being so regimented, but my schedule has been so packed lately that if I don’t pencil something in, it just doesn’t get done. It also has the added benefit of helping my brain quiet down at the end of the night instead of trying to remember everything I must do the next day. Instead, I set myself a few reminders in my calendar, and drift off to sleep. Once the wedding is over I plan on going into scheduling detox on a beach in Cuba for a week.
Remembering to Breathe
I know what I need to do, I have an end goal in sight (June 23rd), I just need to suck it up and accomplish the things I want to accomplish before then. Still, I’m not a machine, and I definitely feel the stress of it all. I snap at people when I shouldn’t, I lose patience with simple tasks and I have a hard time relaxing when I finally do get to have some down time. Finding peace in busy times can be difficult, but I’m standing firm on carving out my little bit of peace in this chaotic life I’m leading right now, so that I can accomplish my goals with my sanity intact.
Do you ever get over stressed? How do you remedy it? I want to know!