Over the past few weeks we have had a terrible cold circulating around our house. After fighting it off for days the cold has now gotten the best of me. My motivation is at about 25% and it’s in my best interest to try and rest and make myself well.
Here is my dilemma…I have a PTO meeting tonight that I can’t miss, company coming tomorrow and a house that needs to be clean. I have two client appointments this week and a workshop presentation tomorrow.
Life doesn’t stop when you are sick, so how do we get things done while we are trying to make our self well?
It’s simple, prioritize. Take the time to look at what you have to get done and start shifting your priorities to get through your down days. Here are four simple steps to help you get that done:
1. Examine your to-do’s.When faced with a crisis situation that requires you to examine your workload, it’s important to be able to differentiate what is important, what is critical and what can get put on the back burner. Setting priorities will help you get the critical things done and the rest can wait until you are back to 100%!
2. Put YOU first! As a mom it’s so easy to put “us” on the bottom of the list (or sometimes, not even on the list). When you aren’t feeling well and things seem to be stacking up against you, you have to let go of the “stuff” and put you first! If you don’t make yourself a priority, you won’t get better and then you will be sick longer.
Know your time. Rest is priority and knowing you need to block time for resting is the hardest thing to do. That’s why examining what you “really” need to do will allow you to put a few things on the back burner. For me, I have to focus on what I can do now, today. I had originally planned to get some future projects started today, but that’s just going to have to wait.
Delegate. If you have toddlers home with you (as I do today), let them help and/or pick up some of the slack for you! For instance, I always forget to drink more water when I am sick, so today, my 5 year old is in charge of making sure mom’s water glass is full at all times. He is helping me get better and taking one thing off my things to do!
I hate being sick. It ranks up there with a dental appointment or taking the kids in for shots, but we all have to deal with it, the important thing is to just make the best of it. Here’s to better days! 