Five Small Things I Do to Keep My Sanity

BUT

A few months ago I realized that while finding balance in my life was going to wait until I am 80, I needed to find it for at least a few minutes at a time (notice I did not write every day – that would be too much of a stretch.). It’s nothing groundbreaking – not much energy for that – but perhaps it can be helpful to other overworked busy professional moms.

You know the routine: At night you run home from work, try to get some dinner on the table while talking to your kids about their day, cleaning up, thinking about lunches for tomorrow, and trying to get your mom off the phone. I only have a bit more than an hour to see my daughter at night before it’s her bedtime and I found that I was just rushing through this time trying to get things done (and I am lucky to have a husband who is home in time to give her a bath and help with bedtime). Once she was in bed, I felt sad that we didn’t actually get to play or have any fun while we were together. So I made a rule for myself – somewhere in this chaos to read a book to her. Usually it’s just five minutes, but we’re sitting together, no one is running around, and it feels really, really good.

Yes, all those Dove commercials got to me. I make tea – microwave is a nice thing to have at work – take a piece of Dove Dark Chocolate – and read something online while I pretend to relax. This doesn’t happen every day nor am I able to actually stop working when I do this, but I think it does slow my mind down a bit, which is a gift.

I make a list of what I have to do. Read a report or an article that’s been sitting on my desk. Go through a document I need to review. It doesn’t matter what it is but doing it before letting the sea of email wash over me and distract me for the next four hours makes me feel more organized and productive.

I don’t talk on the phone past 9pm.

All rules are meant to be broken and when my parents call us at home, then my cell, then back at home, no choice left but to pick up. Don’t get me wrong – I love talking to them – but after 9pm is the only time I have to get things done at home, get organized for the next day, and catch up on the many emails that are still unanswered. But generally, we try to not talk on the phone late at night.

Sometimes I just make it through one page before my eyes decide they need to close then and there. But even that is somewhat relaxing and I think helps keep the work-stress-related thoughts on the back burner, if only for a few hours.

This article was published on Work It, Mom! by Nataly and you can find it at http://www.workitmom.com/articlep0-77

You can find another relevant article here: http://www.workitmom.com/article-325