Disconnecting Helps You De-stress

Next week I am teaching in our church's vacation Bible school, and the following week, we have an interactive organizing workshop for busy moms. The week following is my our wedding anniversary, followed quickly by my son's birthday, so I have been pushing the envelope "busyness-wise," and working on advance preparations to prevent last-minute rush.

Today I took a few hours off and just reflected, with coffee in hand of course.  Taskmaster (I've really been called this recently!) that I am, I took ALL my work with me to the coffee shop, determined to make some headway. However, I soon realized my mind was cloudy after a "pedal-to-the-metal" week of work. So, I picked up my planner and started going through my Family Manager categories one by one and highlighting things I had completed. (Each tab in my business notebook corresponds to a department to manage in our home, with top priority things listed on the front page of each departments which can be easily transferred to weekly hit lists to be done when it makes sense.) I kept having to grab my highlighter to mark off completed tasks, some of which had never even made it to my hit lists!

Before sitting down to do this, I was battling thoughts like, "Ugh, I have so much more to do!" "These two busy weeks are closing in on me! I'm not ready! Oh no!" Noting what had already been accomplished, however, banished those thoughts! I spent most of the day off my feet (which is like a day off for a mother of a toddler, right?), and even had a new creative idea!

Disconnecting from both the daily grind and the current upcoming business helped me turn my stress levels way down! All that laser focus was causing strain, but a little rest brought things back in focus! Slow down and look back to see what you HAVE gotten done. See if it helps you "relax!"