small life, slow life

It happened!

It happened. I got all overloaded with work, I said yes to two big projects (one out of obligation, one because it thrilled my soul + was lucrative), I worked seven days straight without playtime.

I got caught in my own trap.

It happens to the best of us and it also definitely happens to me. ; ) I’ll be going along fine, making sure to go on walks and take ten minutes of sunshine, to play with dogs and to clean off my workspace, to watch Breaking Bad with my man and sleep in a little extra bit, and then – BAM! It happens. Before I know it, it’s a week later and I haven’t taken a single day off. Or (gasp), written a single blog post.

It happens!

“OMG,” I might panic, “I totally have worked the last seven days in a row, and I’m supposed to be this expert on slowing down, and I’m so tired and all I want to do is blow off all my duties and eat ice cream!”

Sometimes, you gotta do that. I wrote about it here.

But when you can’t do that, here’s what I did.

“Hmm,” I said to myself. “Oh, wow – I worked seven days straight. Looks like I’ve been saying yes too much. What’s going on with that?”

“Wow,” I thought later, “it seems like I’ve been nervous about money and not taking account of the rest time I needed. What’s going on with that?”

“Okay,” I decided. “I’m going to take the night off tonight and rest my heart out. Tomorrow, I’m not going to go to that thing I said I would. I’ll sleep in instead. And next week, I’m going to be very careful about what I commit to. I’ll make sure to incorporate some play time.”

And that’s how simple it is. I don’t feel bad at all. There was an issue, and I’ve moved to correct it.

Gentleness is key.

Are you overloaded? Where can you cut back? 

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• Small Life, Slow Life: Stuck in the Waiting Room (aka How to Get Yourself out of a Funk) (smalllifeslowlife.com)