Oops, I Did It Again!

April 10, 2024 Anita Barnes

Hello!

Besides good health, one of my primary goals for 2024 was to manage my schedule better so I would not feel overwhelmed and stressed. My health wasn’t excellent in 2023 because of Lyme disease, and this contributed to fatigue and feeling pretty bad for most of the year. I also felt too busy, and my only fun all year was at my daughter’s beautiful wedding.

When we entered this New Year, I was determined that 2024 would be much better. I was resolute in making time for fun, adventure, beauty and play, ensuring I had plenty of free time to explore with Ben. This was so important to me that I picked EASE as my anchor word for 2024. I’ve placed reminders with the word EASE around my house; it’s also displayed on my computer and phone screensavers to keep me focused. EASE is my wellness focal point, and any decisions I make about my schedule must align with EASE, or the answer is NO!

This worked well until Easter weekend when I woke up on Monday grumpy and exhausted, wondering how I allowed my schedule to get so out of control. Britney Spear’s annoying song “Oops, I Did It Again” became a persistent and annoying ear warm.

I may have prevented this had I followed one of my tried-and-true time management tips: DON’T PUT OFF TOMORROW WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY. I had a deadline for several projects, which I could have completed by Thursday, and if I had not put them off, we would have had a lot more free time on the weekend. I was too tired to work on the projects after Thursday because of a few sleepless nights with our senior dog, Peggy, and I kept procrastinating until I was forced to do a rush job and stay up late one night.

When we get derailed from essential things and not focus on our self-care, it’s easy to give up and wonder what the point is. DON’T DO THAT. I must remind myself not to do this. Every day creates new opportunities for a reset, and once you realize what is going on, readjust and get back on track.

We need to stop over-scheduling and believing that being too busy is something to be proud of and a badge of honour. Our brains aren’t wired to do more than one thing at a time, so multitasking doesn’t work.

Setbacks are a great reminder of the importance of establishing and sticking with priorities. Pause before you say yes, and be comfortable saying no, delaying, rescheduling, and cancelling. These shouldn’t be your default responses but are necessary at times.

I did feel embarrassed over this crazy weekend and the stress it caused Ben and me until I realized certain things that I allowed by not setting some limits, and this helped me transform my regret into learning.

My pursuit for EASE was derailed, and I tripped myself up. It will likely happen again, but hopefully not to the same degree. Ben and I have recommitted to checking our schedules twice weekly to ensure we are not overbooked. I anticipate more sleepless nights because Peggy has congestive heart disease, and I must be more diligent with creating buffers.

I’m curious about your experience managing your schedule and getting overwhelmed. How do you prevent it and turn it around when it happens? How do you avoid the oopsies?