Time to cut yourself some slack.

Feeling burned out and overwhelmed?  Try this when you start getting down on yourself.

First, embrace what I call being slackadaisical.  As far as I know, I made up this term to refer to moments, hours or days when nothing gets done except to completely embrace the fact that nothing will get done.  If slackadaisical were a song it’d be Sublime’s cover of “Summertime”.

Recognize that you can’t go full throttle all the time.  Our bodies and minds have natural cycles of activity and rest.  Sometimes it is frustrating when we have a long to-do list which coincides with a period of necessary rest.  We feel unmotivated and discouraged.  But that thinking just brings us down.  Instead, accept that you need a break and that it is not a bad thing.

Ready to be slackadaisical? Find a comfy spot, or go outside.  And just start slowing down your breath.  No matter what is going on in your life, you have to breathe, right?  So make it count.  Breathe deep into your lungs.  Pause.  Exhale completely, gently pushing the air all the way out.  Pause. And begin again.  Never forcing, always flowing.

If after this exercise you feel very calm, then just lay back and soak it in.  If you feel energized, do some chilled out day dreaming.

Self-care can be just what your need to get ready for your next cycle of activity.  Get a haircut, massage, go to a restorative yoga class, read something, or make something.  Do something unrelated to work and be 100% present.

Are you overwhelmed with projects, responsibilities and unfinished to-do lists? Do you have that feeling that there is so much you have to do that you don’t even know where to start? It’s ok, it happens.

Here’s the thing, a lot of the busyness we feel is mental. If you have ever tried meditating, you know what I mean. So that is right where we are going to start.

Step 1. Set your timer for 1, 3 or 5 minutes depending on how intense you want this to be. Just sit, and breathe. Keep this up until the timer goes off. Now how was that?
If you are like most people you probably had lots of thoughts bouncing around. Congratulations, that is the first step of meditating –waking up to see how busy your life/mind is. Pretty busy!

Step 2. Get out a piece of paper, or your laptop and write down all those thoughts and any new ones you have. Worries, concerns, goals, projects, appointments, adventures, obligations. everything. Take a few deep breaths will long exhalations.

Step 3. Realize that thoughts are just ideas and questions those ideas. Time to ask yourself what belongs on the list. Cross out, rearrange and change anything you have written. Prioritize and then schedule important things that need to be done on your calendar. Sweep away things that just don’t belong in your mind and take up your energy. Pick a few of the things that light you up and do them right now.

A wise friend once told me “you always have energy for something” and when I do this exercise, I realize she is right.