Pull Over!!!

As I begin to jot this down, I am practically in tears. Today has been one of those days. Perhaps you can relate.

I had grand plans. I had my alarm set to have plenty of time to accomplish all that I needed and not be rushed or stressed.

And yet…. here I am running behind.

Why?

I let myself sleep in.

Again.

Why there is such a battle to get up and at it in the morning really kind of baffles me.

You see on the days when I am up and around in the morning, at least in time if not a bit early then I accomplish so much. I feel so much energy. I actually don’t mind mornings.

I just love sleeping!!!

Even when there’s something going on – for example today: visit with my mom. Somehow sometimes I fight myself and don’t get up. I turn off or reset the alarm and keep sleeping. Or I lay there for a few thinking and fall back to sleep. Or I pick up the phone and ‘check social media’ for a minute (1/2 hour later….!)

When this happens, I then have to pick and choose when I can accomplish, or figure out what needs cut out of my morning now as I race to not be late.

I then go throughout the entire day battling guilt, depression, frustration, anger, sadness, depression, and all of the other negative feelings.

My negative self talk? It’s so strong that it makes my stomach turn.🤢

So why am I sharing this? Why am I telling you about this?

Maybe I’m not the only one out there that has dealt with this. Maybe you can relate.

What I have learned is if I’m having a really challenging rough day, can get myself to stop and take a moment to reflect as to why my day is going so horrible?

See, I used to have those type of days much more frequently. So, today when I realized that I was driving 90 miles an hour down Negative Lane, I slowed down and pulled off to the side and interrogated myself!

What had happened?! I had been doing so well, how did I take this wrong turn?

Now in today’s instance – if I had just given myself the correct allotted time I would’ve been fine. Right? Maybe, maybe not – see, generally there are a lot more factors behind a rough day.

Even though I could put my finger on the fact that I slept too long, and was running behind due to not giving myself enough time – I also knew that I needed to dig a little deeper.

⁃ Why had I not given myself enough time?

⁃ Why had I reset the alarm?

⁃ What was causing me to sabotage my day?

Stopping to think back over my last week or two brought up some ‘red flags’ that I really should have noticed before this.

Red Flag #1 – Overloading my schedule. Yup. I had totally been overloading my schedule for over a week. I have no clue why I seem to think that I can pack so much in to a day! As if I really think that the more I schedule in to the day, the more hours long the day will be. Really?

Red Flag #2 – Boundaries. Yup. I completely left my boundaries unguarded and just let my schedule get completely out of control. Boundaries are important for a number of reasons. Keeping time for my priorities is vital if I want to accomplish my purpose. I have heard it said, “Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.” This is so true! Yet, sure enough I jumped when asked and instantly shuffled things so that I could help someone else with their tasks. (Now, this doesn’t mean that we don’t ever help others. What it does mean is take a second to determine if it is a real need, and how will the outcome affect you and your schedule.)

Red Flag #3 – Self Care. Yikes! Totally failed there. Not getting enough sleep, lack of planning for down time, not enough exercise and poor nutrition were all culprits when I reviewed my last couple of weeks. Oops! Now, I will be the 1st to admit that it seems silly to actually block out time in my planner to ‘relax’ but I have learned that sometimes that is the only way to remember to fit it in!

So, what can be done to overcome days like this?

First and foremost what I find important is to actively plan out my day. Now, some people plan in like 15 minute increments, others hourly and some just do a ‘to do today list’. The key is learning what works best for you. For myself, I flip flop between all three of those options. It depends on the season that I am in, what all I am trying to accomplish at the moment, and what my time looks like. For example, currently I am doing a lot of driving with UBER & LYFT. Since I don’t know how often a ride will come in, or how long it will be – the 15 minute and hourly increments won’t work. So I have a ‘To Do Today’ list.

To Do Today:

Audios … Listen to Rascal Radio & LIFE audios (when riders are not in the car, I fill my time with positive audios.) This helps me stay sharp and in a positive mood. It is also great for my education in personal & leadership development.

Read 15 minutes … When I am sitting somewhere waiting for my rider, I can read. I have the current motivational book I am reading sitting on the front seat, ready for available time. Right now I am reading ‘The Magic of Thinking Big’ by David J Schwartz

{you can order that on my LIFE website www.lifeleadership.com/61339739}

Work on the blog …. Sometimes I head to the airport or to Disney Springs to wait for riders. Both of these locations have parking lots designated for riders. Sometimes there is almost no wait, other times I am there for over half an hour. This is the perfect time to snack on healthy food and write my blogs.

Check in with family …. I generally put in my list whom it is that I need to check in with. This way I call and talk to different family throughout the week. It helps me not to go too long without talking to an aunt or other family. I find sitting and eating my lunch, while the app is turned off is nice to do while I’m talking with someone, it almost makes it feel like a lunch date! {actually a great idea for Covid quarantine – set up a virtual lunch date with someone!}

I hope that reading about my challenging days and how I’m learning to overcome them has helped you in some way. Please comment and let me know if it has, or if you have any further suggestions for me!

As alway, thank you for reading, liking, following, commenting and sharing! You are vital to this blog! We appreciate you!

Here’s to a better morning, Amy

Photo Credits:

From Unsplash:

Alarm clock – vitaly turchaninov

Sleeping woman – Kinga Cichewic

Speeding ticket – Jonathan Cooper @theshuttervision