Blog Appétit

Cue the delayed post for the 3rd week in a row. So I have this serious problem called “overbooking myself”. It’s this highly contagious disease that  millennials seem to be catching everywhere. It starts off with one coffee date and leads to another and then leads to leaving your house at 6am and not coming back until 10pm to shower, eat a quick bite and then go to bed to get up and go again. Side effects that may be caused from this disease include: lack of sleep, under-eye bags, stress hives, lack of creativity, late night eating and possible hangover headaches from too many glasses of wine the evening before. If you find that you have these side effects….then this post is for you.

The other day Steve joked that if I found a way to make coffee dates and networking after work drinks a paying career, then we could both quit our day jobs. Hey, maybe I should go on Shark Tank and pitch it to them?

Ok, so I’m not really that bad. I mean…kind of, but hey we’re all human and we have busy lives and things going on. If we didn’t life would be boring. Am I right?

Well, the other day I saw this quote in my planner and it hit me…

“Never confuse having a career with having a life” -Eddie Bauer

 When was the last time I baked treats for friends? Hosted a dinner party at our place? Worked out without a time limit of needing to go home and finish e-mails and blog posts?

Don’t get me wrong I LOVE my job and blogging, sometimes a little too much that I blur the line of making time for a life outside the office or my computer screen. And sometimes to the point that I end up trying to do so many things in one day that I find my stress levels out the window.

I actually have to laugh as I had a little hiccup at work the other day and one of my bosses looked at me and said “you don’t seem stressed about this situation”. I think at this point I had been so stressed the past few weeks that my body couldn’t do it anymore. It’s like they say when you cry so much at one point you can’t cry anymore.

Well instead of saying that to her, me and my big mouth replied ” If I stressed over every detail in my job, I would loose all my hair and age 40 years.”

Not sure that was the most appropriate comment to make to your boss, but it came out like word vomit. Wait, come back. That was my stress talking, not me!

So this week I’m kicking the “overbooking” bug out the window and saying goodbye to stress and hello to nights in with Steve, friends and “me” time.

1. Do something for yourself. Don’t blur the line of career and life. Take time each day to do something for yourself that doesn’t benefit your job or side hustle. Maybe try a new workout class or if you’re like me and love to bake, try a new recipe and add your own creative twist.

2. Don’t Overthink it. The number one stress causer is from over-thinking. Instead of thinking about how you did during that presentation or about the 50 meetings you have coming up this week, think about the benefits you gained from presenting to clients or all the amazing opportunities that will come about from your meetings. If you think in a positive way, it will help eliminate the stress of the situation.

3. Dress Up. Sounds odd, right? I read in my Women’s Health magazine the other day that you are much more likely to be productive when you dress up and feel confident and of course, with productivity comes less stress. So take a few extra minutes this week to dress up for the big meeting or the coffee date with a stranger because everyone loves feeling pretty and productive!

4. Don’t Stress About the Little Things. Just like I told my boss, I’d look like a bald 60 year old women if I stressed over every little thing. We’re all human and we all make mistakes, we can’t stress about every little typo or hiccup. We can only fix the problem and move forward making note to try and prevent it from happening again.

5. Laugh it Off. When all else fails, laugh it off. Sometimes when I find myself so stressed out, I imagine myself laying on the floor of my office throwing a child tantrum and crying…I mean how can you not laugh at the thought of that? I have found that laughing is one of the best medicines. We can only do so much in a day, we aren’t superwoman so sometimes you just have to laugh at the tasks ahead.

6. It Won’t Kill You. One of the best pieces of advice I have received in my career, was “if it won’t kill you, then don’t stress about it”. While this isn’t always true because if you majorly fail, the client might want to kill you but for the most part, it’s so true. At the end of the day,  you’re going to walk out of that office alive or into your apartment in one piece so no reason to stress about the e-mails you didn’t get to or the blog post that didn’t go up (guilty!).

7. Ask for Help. Last but not least, ask for help. Like I said before we’re aren’t superwoman and we can only do so much on our own before we need that extra hand or second mindset for input and creative ideas. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

 

What do you do to help eliminate stress? Maybe a little pampering or movie night in to shut the brain off for a few hours?