Are you done? So many of the people I work with are. The next thing, no matter how big or small, will break the proverbial camel’s back. 

Just as water is still at 211 degrees and boiling at 212, just the thought of one more thing feels like it is the difference between having it together and total collapse.

It is certainly where I was before my birthday trip last month. A good friend, determined that I look after myself and celebrate, kept asking me what we were doing for my birthday. I had no clue, and the one thing I could do for me was take planning for that off my to do list.  His effort to do a good thing, felt like the one more thing I couldn’t take. It wasn’t that I wasn’t going to do it. I just gave up doing it on time. After my trip, I planned a bunch of small things, and get to go have craft cocktails with friends tonight as one of the celebrations. 

The key? That trip. I needed to stop. Stop the calls, the emails, the real and not so real urgent emergencies, the responding to one more person saying “I need you to…”

When it gets that crazy, do only what is necessary for survival for the next 24 hours and stop. Move the meetings. Delegate or ditch or delay as much of the to do list as possible. Just for a day or two. And then do it. Step away.

It’s magic. A little rest and sleep and not doing. When you come back rested it’s all easier and you might just wonder what was so hard in the first place. Take breaks. Slow down to go fast.

A good thing to remember as we head into the holiday season.

Julie