Holy $h*t. I am slightly overwhelmed this week. Actually, I am seriously overwhelmed this week. Here I am a mom of three little kids, working for pumpspotting, preparing for my business launch, blogging in spare moments, prepping for the Yoga Flow + Coffee Connection event and juggling life’s demands. I’m doing loads of laundry, keeping groceries stocked and making meals, packing lunches and driving to and from anywhere + everywhere. I’m trying to plan a baptism and a birthday party, register my kids for activities, you name it. It’s all on my list.

Mark is traveling again this week and when I saw snow in the forecast I quite literally shed a tear because HOW was I going to fit ONE more thing such as shoveling into my life?

I can’t. I’m full. I’m overwhelmed.

PS – Photo above because it makes me happy, not overwhelemed. And graciously taken by Talia Laird Photography.

I decided to send Mark a little SOS text earlier – “Help! How am I EVER going to get caught up with work?” It may not have been in those gentle of words and it was not the brightest move because he is more swamped than I am, but I was wrapped up in my feeling of overwhelm, my frantic hours to get a few things done and my mental preparation for the witching hour I know we are going to experience tonight.  All three babes who stayed up far too late last night and will be over tired and highly emotional + needy – that’s a given. It will start before dinner. Take my word on that. Not to mention, the thought of the bedtime process in itself is making me a little anxious.

There are so many things I’m juggling :: So. Much. Everything :: along with three little people to give my love and attention and patience to. And I’m letting my overwhelmed mama self get caught up in it. I don’t want to be on edge. I need to slow down, pace myself and just put my attention where it needs to be in each moment. Rather than take things one day at a time, I need to take them one hour at a time, or surely I may not make it out alive. (Yes, I’m quite dramatic in times like these.)

I know I’m not the only mom to ever feel overwhelmed with life and responsibility, which is why I’m throwing it out there. Whether you’re feeling this way today or felt it last week or will feel it next week, it downright sucks sometimes. Amen?

Maybe you are juggling work and kid activities? Maybe you’re not sleeping or your baby(ies) is(are) sick? Maybe you are over committed to volunteer activities or pushing the needle forward on passion projects of yours? Maybe there’s work travel in your family too, or maybe your house is a disaster and you have no groceries whatsoever? Maybe there is conflict and stress from another source? Maybe I missed exactly what your overwhelm is coming from?

Nevertheless, I wrote out my steps to address my feelings of OH MY OVERWHELM and they actually helped. So, I hope you will take them too.

MY ADVICE TO THE OVERWHELMED MAMA

• Don’t trick yourself out of it. Being overwhelmed is a legitimate feeling. Instead, work through how to make it better.
• MIND DUMP. For real – write it down. All of it. All of those thoughts consuming your mind. For me, it came out in a major to do list and a big ol’ prayer. Maybe yours is just a scattering of thoughts. How ever it comes out, write it out so that it’s not stuck in your mind.
• Pick one thing and outsource it. There is power in outsourcing! Thanks to my mom’s suggestion, I asked if Mark’s parents could pick up the kids this morning rather than me driving them over there and then driving right back home to work. It saved me at least an hour of time – and time is SO valuable to me right now.
• Pick one thing and get it done. What’s one thing that you can just cross off to make you feel like you’ve accomplished something? Do it. The first thing in my mind dump that needed to get crossed off was sending a simple email. It was a small step in the right direction to less overwhelm.
• Take a moment to breathe. I love to practice yoga and appreciate what the breathing and movement does for my mind + body, but today, you better believe I can’t even fathom adding yoga into my schedule. On these types of days, I use a moment to take a few deep breaths and meditate on a happy thought or word. Calm. That was my word today. Inhale *calm*. Exhale *calm*.

Overwhelmed mamas, I feel you. My heart goes out to you. Take it one hour at a time and I sure hope you’ll take my advice. I can tell you it has made a world of a difference from where I was at earlier today.

XO

P.S. If you are overwhelmed TODAY, prayers we all make it through bedtime tonight. ?