Busy; having a great deal to do
I’m in the thick of it. It’s the busiest time of year for me. Everyone wants a piece of Jade; mentally, physically, spiritually.
I was asked to write a post about how to cope during stressful and busy times, so here it is. It’s something that resonates with me pretty strongly at the moment and I’d love to share with you my ways of coping with being completely and utterly unavailable.
These super busy times call for a super human approach, people. And everyone has the ability to be super human.
But before we start, it’s important to remember that everybody’s perception of ‘busy’ is different. Some people only have to post a letter and feed the cat and they class that as ‘run off their feet.’ Other’s handle a multitude of large tasks on a daily basis and barely bat an eyelid. We’re all different, and we all handle pressure in very different ways.
I class ‘busy’ as the time when things suddenly feel completely out of my control and I struggle to sleep at night ’cause my mind’s trying to make automatic to-do-lists. That shit is scary.
So lets get to it. Grab yourself a cuppa tea and relax. Read. Here’s how I’m coping with being 101% preoccupied, overworked and stressed out:
It’s never as bad as you think. People often deal with busy and stressful times by throwing themselves into things even more and spending an endless amount of hours trying to catch up. They find themselves swamped by tasks, unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes this can be more counter productive. And sometimes it’s best to take a step back and reassess the situation.
Often you’ll find that the situation is never as bad as you think, and by shifting it all into perspective that actually it’s all very manageable. It just needs looking at in a different way.
Write your ‘to-do-list’ in an order of priority. What needs doing right this very second otherwise the world will explode into a million shards? And what can be put on the back burner until tomorrow?
Break them down into small, doable tasks and plan them out into achievable time frames. And then begin.
Remember that fantastic support network that surrounds you. And then bloody well use it. My stressful times are often about problem solving. I have to get something done but I might not be 100% sure exactly how to do it. And that’s where my fantastic network of support comes in.
I talk to them. I talk things through until they’re sick of hearing about it. I bounce ideas off of them. I fret to them. I moan and tell them all the ‘if’s’ & ‘buts’ till I’m blue in the face.
And then there’s a light bulb moment. BING. I’ve talked it through so much that we come up with a solution. It was there all along I just had to find it.
When you’re busy and stressed, lean on the people around you to support you through. That’s what friends are for right?
You’ve got an exam and you need to be tested on every module twice a night. Just ask them.
You don’t know how to deal with a difficult situation at work surrounding a number of tasks and it’s stressing you out. Speak to your support network, someone might have some experience of this and will offer you advice.
You have 4 tonne of sand to dispose of and you don’t have enough man power. Contact those handy people that you know and they will come to your rescue (ahem, my problem of the week that my lovely support network handled for me very well. Ta very much you beautiful people)
Plan, plan, plan. I know you’re probably bored of hearing this one, but the easiest way to avoid stress at busy times is to plan ahead. If you know you’re going to be swamped with work around a certain time, then plan for it.
Get as ahead as you can. When that storm hits you’ll be in the best position you can be in, ready to smash it.
Think positive and things will be positive. If you look at things positively, rainbows & glitter & sparkle will shine out your face and often it can have a positive effect on all the jobs around you. I’m a great believer in this.
If you’re a glass half empty kinda person then guess what? Everything you do will be half empty. Boo you.
If you’re a glass half full kinda guy or gal, then the chances are things are gonna look pretty bright for you. People cotton on to your attitude to things, and this can have a real knock on effect of how situations around you are handled.
No one wants to help out the office twat. Fact.
Find your way to unwind. I know many articles like this one will tell you to go have a bath, down a glass of wine, get a massage, blah blah blah. But not everyone finds these things relaxing, especially when there’s a million and one things running through your mind.
You need to find your way to unwind.
This might be going for a run or throwing yourself around the dance floor. It might be baking cookies, mountain biking or going on a marathon shopping trip (guilty). It doesn’t have to be big ol’ pamper days, unwinding can be anything you want it to be.
But whatever it is, it needs to divert your mind away from the tasks in hand. And when you come back to them, I often find that they seem different, easier and less huge. You have to take a step out of things in order to get a new perspective on them.
Give your brain a break. It’ll pay off, promise.
Remind yourself that stress is your way of being a super caring human being. At the end of the day, the only reason we’re stressing about things is because we care about them. And we want them to be right. We want to ace every situation. We want that promotion at work. We want to pass all our exams with flying colours.
And well done you for caring so much.
But don’t let stress get in the way of achieving what you wanna do. Use it, to a certain extent, to propel you forward. Harness the nervous energy that stress brings to achieve big things. Like an actor; it’s good to be nervous before you step on stage – it brings out the best in your performance.
But don’t let it consume you. Don’t let it take hold of you so much that you can’t think straight. That’s when stress becomes a negative force.
Just laugh. Because one day you’ll look back at this situation and it’ll seem so insignificant. It’ll seem hilarious. You’ll LOL about how serious you took it and how many tears you shed and how many F words you used. Because nothing ever seems that bad when you look back it at.
So just laugh. And relax.
Besides, you can’t be that busy if you’re reading this. What you worried about? *wink*
Remember, life is too short to spend it stressed out and frazzled. Life is about friends and experiences and love and cocktails, obvs.
Hope you all spend your weekend unwinding in whatever way you seem fit. Me? I’m gonna go eat half a tub of ice cream and spend too much on garden furniture. Living life to the full aren’t I.
Have a fab weekend you lovely lot.