A Chance for a Do-Over

I don’t know about you, but this was the summer that wasn’t for me. My face was buried in a screen for the last few months working, working, working. And when I wasn’t tending to book stuff, I was at our tiny house build site trying to lighten some of Melissa’s load.

Even though the projects occupying my time are super exciting, I am jonesing for a vacation. Seeing everyone’s beach and summer fun pictures got old real fast. I went from living vicariously through them to resenting them. I want to be on the beach, dammit!

While we can’t rewind time, we can do our best to learn from our mistakes. And now is as good a time as any.

The start of a new school year always feels like a second January, doesn’t it? It’s a chance to get organized, systematized, and strategize, but it can also be easy to fall back into a hectic schedule of classes, homework, and projects without giving it a second thought.

It’s probably worth taking time to consider a do-over before diving into the same old routine.

Reflect back on your summer. With the easier pace of things (for most), were you able to be more present? Enjoy the moment more? What if you could carry that over into the new academic year?

To help you do just that, think back to this time last year. Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently to lighten your load? To ease your mind?

Where would you have spent less time?

Where would you have spent more time?

Revisit the values you hold dear, both for yourself and your family. Does your current approach support those values or are you simply charging full steam ahead, bracing yourself, and waiting for a chance to exhale?

Instead of always doing what you’ve always done, get creative in your thinking.

Do you really have to be on every committee?

To be a room parent every week?

To bake those cupcakes for the bake sale?

Choosing to say no more often doesn’t make you a bad parent or person. In fact, doing so leaves fuel in your tank so you can be more present for your dreams, your goals, your family, and your friends.

Old habits and outdated routines are their own type of clutter. By getting stuck in the “this is how I’ve always done it” way of thinking, you block yourself from seeing other options.

Try this:

Imagine a friend came to you feeling stuck in a similar situation that you’re in. What ideas would you have to offer him or her? What creative solutions might you come up with?

Now see how you can apply these new ideas to your schedule, because, remember, less is always more!

Have a great week,