What a Week!

This week has been a week filled with deadlines: a project deadline for my business, a large school assignment will be due, and writing a post for the blog. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, no, a lot overwhelmed. I started to think about all the hats we wear throughout our days and lives: spouse, parent, employee, employer, grandparent, friend, sibling, daughter, son, student, and the list goes on and on. We try to put one hat on, then another, and another. Ultimately, we never seem to take any hats off. Just think about how difficult it would be if you had six or seven hats on your head at one time. No matter how strategically you placed the hats, it is going to be difficult to walk, let alone get anything done. Yet, we go through our days and lives wearing all these hats. Are we able to accomplish what we are supposed to get done? Probably not.

So how do we put one hat on at a time? This is a struggle for me. I pride myself on being able to multi-task, like it is a badge of honor or something. I really have had to slow down and focus on only wearing one hat at a time. I try to visually put one hat on, get done what I need to get done, and then take that hat off and put it away! Then I can put the next hat on.

Some hats are easy to put on and keep on. For me that is my “student” hat. I really like to learn and study, especially if it really interests me. Other hats, we don’t like to wear, but they still are important to put on. This could be doing chores, yard work, grocery shopping, or whatever else may not be a fun hat to wear.

I think what is important is that we embrace each hat as we are wearing it, be present while wearing the hat, and know when it is time to change hats.

Here are practical tips that I have found helpful.

1. Write down something that you are thankful for everyday. Some days it may be hard to find something, but we can all find something we are thankful for. It sets the tone for your day.
2. Plan your day. I have a note card for the things I want to accomplish for each day. I have it broken down by categories: personal, work, school, and blog. This has helped me tremendously. It is nothing fancy but it works.
3. Make sure you schedule time for yourself whether it is prayer/meditation, physical activity, or a hobby. It is important for you to keep yourself strong spiritually, physically, and mentally. You are important and the people in your life need you to be healthy and strong.
4. Ask for help when you need it. This is a major challenge for me. For years I have tried to do many things (well more like everything!) on my own. Usually when I finally ask for help, I am at a point of being overwhelmed and then I ask out of frustration, which is never good. Now (well most the time) if I am anticipating a busy time, I will ask for help in advance. I usually ask my hubby. I need to respect him and his time, this way he has time to prepare to help if he can. I know this sounds really simple, but so often we struggle with the common sense stuff.

It is time for me to take off my “blog” hat and put on my “upholstery” hat. My ultimate goal is to not wear any hat and just be myself, but I am still working on that!!

I hope you enjoyed this post and I REALLY appreciate any comments or thoughts you want to share. What hats have you tried to wear all at the same time?

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Image:

www.dfrow.com