Recently I have been feeling super overwhelmed in most aspects of my life. I never seem to have the time to write, (meaning I’ve turned into a writer who doesn’t really write); I’ve once again been neglecting to blog. (I think my last blog post was in March last year); and I won’t even attempt to tell you all how behind I am with my ironing.

Being overwhelmed is not a nice place to be in, and I have been in this place before, fortunately this gives me the tools to escape back to a place of serene control. A place where I can trust I have a robust system in place for all the many things I need to do.

I have put systems in place before, but they were not robust enough to cope with hurdles thrown up by life events, so I will need to honestly think about why my systems haven’t worked for me. (I suspect this might be partly down to stubborn rebelliousness).

This is what I am going to try:

• Restart my bullet journal. I let this slide last year, and so now have no second brain to make sure I am not missing things
• Make a weekly appointment with me to review the week just gone and plan for the week ahead. (I also need to reward myself for keeping it.)
• Routine will be key. I have a tendency to think of routines as boring, but with two middle sized children I know routine is the foundation upon which great adventures can be built and enjoyed.
• Establish a second brain (see How to be a Productivity Ninja by Graham Allcott)
• Blog into the future. Writing drafts in advance and trying not to aim for perfectionism. Images are super important but waiting till I have the perfect image can be the difference between getting a post published or not.
• Remember that even the smallest bit of cleaning will make me feel more in control.
• Do something fun and non work related everyday. (reading books, playing games or even a sneaky Sunday afternoon nap)
• Keep going.

Do you ever get overwhelmed? I’d love to know what strategies you use get life back on track again. Post in the comments or get in contact using my Contact form