Ahhhh! There's so much to do!

Life seems to have a way of getting crazy just when we don't have time. There's your child's homework assignment that they forgot was due...tomorrow. An impending deadline at work that can't be delayed any longer. What about the band concerts, dance lessons, or basketball games for your kids? School, church, and family obligations and responsibilities that we "have" to do. How do we balance all the demands on our time and energy?Recently, I came to the point of realization that it wasn't physically possible for me to accomplish and meet all my obligations the way that I had envisioned in my head. It was possible (though difficult) to meet the responsibilities on my list, but not in the way that I wanted them completed. Having realistic expectations of what I can and need to accomplish within the parameters of my life was a hard realization for me. I don't just want to complete a task; I want to excel at that task. However, my overly high expectations of myself were leading to feelings of stress, anxiety, and negative self- worth. How do we combat these dueling feelings of inadequacy and the need for perfection?PrioritizeSounds simple enough right? However, how often do we sit down and write out all the demands on our time and energy for a day and then rank them? Try taking just 5 minutes and jotting down all the things that you need (or think you need) to accomplish for that day. Is it reasonable? How do you feel when you look at the list? Is it empowering and motivating? Or, do you feel the stress and anxiety like I did when I looked at mine? If your list is motivating, then you might have a good balance. However, if you react like I did, that's a good indication that you are over-extended and need to pare it down a bit. How can I cut out something I "need" to do?Good EnoughFor those of us that suffer with perfectionistic tendencies, it's hard to accept that less than perfect is good enough. Do we really need to be on every PTO committee at our children's schools? Or, is being on one "good enough"? Are there things on your list where you can give yourself permission to be average? Adjusting the expectations that we set for ourselves can be a difficult thing to do, but I've found that being more flexible about what is and isn't acceptable leads to a lot less stress.FlexibilityAfter completing the first two steps, I realized there were several areas of my life where I'd created exceedingly high expectations. I had scheduled myself into a corner that didn't allow for any deviation. Allowing for some flexibility in my schedule is very freeing; I don't have to be doing something all the time. When something unexpected does pop up, I've left enough leeway to adjust accordingly.I've learned that being able to look objectively at various aspects of my life and see where I can make improvements by doing less, either physically or mentally, is necessary at this stage. I simply can't be or do all the things that I tried to tell myself that I had to. However, by carefully evaluating and choosing to prioritize the things most important to me, accepting that sometimes less than "perfect" is good enough, and allowing flexibility be my new mantra; I have a sense of strength, empowerment, and resiliency that was previously lacking.