At just about this time of year (and again in November) I'm swamped. For whatever reason, the respective Job I have increases demands and these two times of year is when my school semester is in the final stretch. For this reason, my social interaction goes WAY down. I hardly see or talk to friends, my social networking is virtually nil, and it's a STRUGGLE to keep up with things like, say, a blog, that I'm fairly new at to begin with! My wife and kids are lucky enough for me to participate around the house a little bit each day (or every couple of days when it's really crazy).
So how do we do it (or maybe a better question is why)? We all have these times of extreme busyness, how do we manage? Stress levels rise, maybe loved ones feel slighted and we feel like we've given all we have to give! I guess one requirement is make sure you still find time to clearly communicate. Don't just assume (as I have a tendency to do) that because you know you have a lot going on, your loved ones know too. Often they might not know, usually because we haven't told them. "Well, honey, I didn't know you had a major presentation at work AND a paper due for your graduate class on the same day... you never mentioned it!" Oops! Most often, if those we love truly know what we have going on, for the few weeks things seem unmanageable, they are more than willing to do all they can to make it easier for us. We just need to make sure we are telling them!
Anything else you find helps?
We just spent 2 weeks in Grand Cayman, and found that it appears to be largely an attitudinal thing when it comes to "dealing" with all of the stuff we have gone on as dads/friends/husbands/Jesus Followers.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that there's just not going to be enough time to do it all, no matter what you try, and I think that having an "island attitude" is something that can (and is for me) help to make it through and keep things in balance. When you're sitting on a beach and relaxing, you have a certain mindset. I'm beginning to believe more and more that you can actually have at least a simulation of that same mindset no matter what your circumstances, whether it be a big paper due, an overdue project, or whatever.
This goes with your communication to those around us idea. It's a delicate thing to communicate just how much we have going on to our spouse specifically without minimizing what THEY have going on as well, but if you approach it as a "battle" that we're doing together, it seems easier. Plus, again, that island attitude of "no problem, Mon!" can help here in that you maintain an attitude of lower anxiety even when your physical anxiety is high. The stress and time saved can be invaluable.