How to cope when life gets overwhelmingly busy

Friday, June 3rd, 2016

Well, for the first time this year, I've gone more than a week without a blog post. May was unexpectedly a crazy month for me. Business is great and keeping me busy. My unexpected trip to Oklahoma and our planned long weekend visiting family in West Virginia for Memorial weekend added to the hectic days. June came in with a bang - beginning on a short week. Yesterday was my final Leadership Prince William class and our graduation. That means that I had two full days of not working this week between the holiday and LPW. I also have had networking meetings to attend on two of the days I did work. So you can see how this has led to me not having time to write in my blog.

And then there are our travel plans... We've still been working on those, however at the moment we're watching Paris closely as they're having a lot of rain and flooding at the moment. It's hard to gauge how the weather will be in 10-20 days. Our friends in Paris are telling us that it's only bad near the river and that it will only start getting better from now on. So for the moment we're watching and waiting. We can post-pone if needed without any problems or cost - so that's all good. The bad thing is that we're just excited to go and hate the idea of delaying.

The question is, what do you do when life gets hectic and busy to keep up with everything? It's a balancing act for sure. So here are some ideas I've come up with to help

1. Make lists. Of course this is something many of us do every day, but it's never more important that when life is busy. Sometimes, there is too much chaos going through your mind to remember even the smallest details, so make lists about everything.
2. If you deal with clients or customers I have two suggestions (that work together) on keeping their details straight. I start with using a blank piece of paper for that customer. I write down their name, who referred them to me, their contact information, and when I'm supposed to contact them or any other information they give me over the phone. I then use a separate file folder for each customer and that piece of paper (which is always on top), plus any quotes, copies of prior policies, etc. go into that folder. For me, I have such a large amount of new clients I'm working with, I will forget who I'm supposed to call and when I'm supposed to call, if I don't have it written down on their paper in their folder. 
3. Be diligent about keeping up with your emails. I am usually meticulous about keeping my work email empty - however when things are chaotic in my life, the emails are one of the first places it shows. They start piling up super fast. Do your best to keep them under control, so that you don't forget to do something.
4. Ask for help. Maybe you don't have anyone who can help you with your job, but you can ask for help at home. I have truly relied on extra help from my family around the house this past month and I am so thankful they were all happy to help. 
5. Take breaks. At work: We all know that I struggle with this on a daily basis. I had some good days where I got up and walked every hour. I had some bad days where I got up and walked 1 time if I was lucky. It feels like taking a break slows you down, but it really helps you get back on track. At home: Go to the gym, go on long walks, do yoga, practice meditation, spend an hour reading. Just take that one hour and do something for you.
6. Try, Try, Try very hard to stay on one task at a time. This is one of my biggest difficulties in life. I am sometimes easily distracted by shiny things, such as a new email or a thought that triggers a reminder of something else I need to do. I will stop in the middle of a task to being another and before I know it, I have 5 half done projects going on. If you have a trick to staying on one task at a time, please share in the comments below!
7. Allow yourself time where you leave work at work. When I was in Oklahoma for my cousin's funeral, I took an hour each day to listen to voice-mails/check emails and respond to whatever was necessary. Just 1 hour. The rest of the time, I was 100% present with my family. 
8. Always return phone calls asap. Even if you don't have an answer, even if you can't help them right at this moment. Write their information on a piece of paper, put them in a folder, and get to it when you can. Let them know you will work on it and get back to them tomorrow or next week, depending on how much time it will take. If it's something easy, get it done quickly and off your plate.
9. This leads me to: under promise and over deliver. Don't tell someone you'll have something to them today or tomorrow if  you're already overwhelmed and not sure you will have time to do it. That only stresses yourself out. If you tell them you'll have it to them in 3 days or next week at the latest and get it done tomorrow, they'll be very happy. If you tell them you'll get it to them tomorrow morning and you don't get to it until the day after tomorrow or worse next week, they'll think you forgot about them or don't do your job very well. If you explain how busy you are, people do understand. People are awesome like that! 
10. Make sure you get enough sleep each night. It's easy to stay up late trying to get things done, then get up early because you know you have a million things to do, but after a few days, weeks of doing this your body will rebel. Besides you're not as focused during the day if your brain is tired. So strive for 7-9 hours of sleep. 

I hope this helps someone out there who is dealing with some chaos like I have been. Or maybe your all good today, but will sometime in the future find yourself in this situation and you'll remember these ideas. If you have your own tricks, tips, and hints of what to do when life gets crazy, I would truly love to hear about them in the comments below! 

MW

Copyright 2016