Two months down and ten to go and this year is running away with me already.
February has been a pretty tough month mentally for me, looking at my diary I knew it was going to be a busy month work-wise but nothing I didn’t feel like I could handle but I did struggle.
I’ve realised that my time is really divided into three areas:
The Business
Health & Fitness
Downtime
This past month it has felt relentless when it came the business at a detriment of the other two areas of my life, now I don’t want to come across as complaining as a good friend did remind me that being busy is a good thing which is it as a couple of years ago I couldn’t have dreamed/wished for the way the business has grown recently.
The business at the moment is going great, opportunities are coming at me left, right and centre which feels awesome and really does show that hard work and focus really does make things happen, however, this month all this work felt completely overwhelming, I just didn’t know where to start with it all, I felt like I was juggling so many different projects and not making any headway with any of them, my to-do list was growing longer by the day and I was feeling like I’m letting people/businesses down.
Every single working day (Mon-Fri) in February I had something on be this a meeting, networking event or delivering work which I love as I enjoy getting out and about, but as I’m out and about the desk work I’ve got to do doesn’t get done which means me working early mornings, late nights and weekends just to keep up with it all. I usually have Mondays as my desk day so that I can prepare myself for the week & plan how I’m going to fit everything in but this routine went out the window in the 1st week!!
Again I’m not complaining as I absolutely LOVE what I’ve created as Firecracker and never begrudge working long days as I know that for every ounce of effort I put it I get it back ten-fold but unfortunately, my body & mind aren’t always that happy!
So health and fitness went out the window, I only managed to get to the gym 7 times in the month, I got a cold/felt rough for a week or so which knocked me for six and left me feeling tired & under more pressure. I know all too well with what I do that if I don’t look after myself then I’m no use to anyone, sometimes it’s hard to hear and take your own advice.
Each year I choose a “word of the year” which helps to guide me & stay focus on the things I in life, in February I’d already forgotten that my word for 2019 is BALANCE and another good friend sent me a message with a reminder of this and it was the message I needed to see to just stop and re-evaluate what I’m doing. So I started to look at my behaviours and see which ones aren’t serving me well & work out how I go about changing things.
If you could have a word of the year, what would it be?
I know I’m my own worst enemy at times with getting balance in my life, like I said I love what I do so often don’t see it as “work” and as I get older I’ve got into a habit of shying away from social situations and like to just be at home.
A friend had invited me out for drinks with other friends for their birthday and I was stressing & nervous as soon as I accepted the invite!! I just felt completely out my comfort zone, which is strange really as when I’m going to business events as Rachel from Firecracker I don’t tend to get nervous at all really, but any time I have to be Rachel L then I feel really uncomfortable – something to explore with my therapist in the future!!
In terms of downtime, there wasn’t that much of it, I did get to have lunch/coffee with friends here and there but in all honesty, my body was present but my mind wasn’t which made me feel guilty at times.
I know that we are all balancing demands on our time so I have to remember:
So as we march into March I’m very conscious of how I spend my time both physically and mentally to ensure I make the most of everyday.
Lincolnshiregirl 