Hello Friends,
We all know challenging days are part of life, as much as I would love to tell you to turn every difficult day you have into a self-care day full of reflection and comfort. Sometimes, those challenging days show up when you have to do a list of 5 million things and there are many people counting on you to do them. Unfortunately, ruling out your self-care day. To help aid you the next time you are in this situation, I decided to share my tips for being productive even on extra challenging days.
Breathe – So you’re having a tough day. Life has got you down, yet you have three meetings with the CEO, you’re on carpool duty, you have a final worth 99.9% of your grade tomorrow, or you have some other responsibility that has to get done today. The first step is to take a deep breath. Anytime you feel overwhelmed, take a second to breathe. Take a moment now to ground yourself as best you can before continuing.
Write down the tasks you need to complete – Okay, you’re at least a bit more grounded. Now, get all the “I need to do” thoughts out of your head and onto paper. Write down everything floating around in your head that has a “…needs to get done” at the end of it, even the random ones like “get a soap dish.” Before you get overwhelmed by the extensive list you just created, check the next step.
Eliminate the negotiables – On hard days, the goal is simply to survive, not finish every task. So take a look at that to-do list you just created and scratch off or break down anything that is not necessary. Dusting the bookshelf in the family room can wait until tomorrow. You can return the library book on the weekend. Store-bought cookies will be fine for the bake sale. Maybe you can just focus on the long answer part of the exam. Leave the list with only the necessities.
Focus on the task at hand – Now it’s time to do the things. Pick the most important or easiest task and start there. Focus solely on finishing this task. Then, once you are ready, move on to the next and focus only on finishing that. Take breaks as you need, and remember to give yourself grace. Life is hard, but you are doing the best that you can! Pat yourself on the back!
This is different from my usual mindset; you may feel the same. I am usually a “the best time is now, so do it” person. However, when life feels heavy, and you are down, sometimes the best you can do is get through the day. In case no one else has told you, THAT IS ENOUGH! It is okay if you didn’t get out of bed today if you didn’t bake homemade cookies, or if you didn’t get everything checked off your to-do list. On tough days, simply surviving is more than enough; you should be proud of yourself!
If you ever need someone to talk to about your difficult days feel free to contact me.
Until next week, My Friends!
P.S. I’m proud of you 😉