I’ve been sick. These three words might give you a clue that I am currently in a state of frenzy trying to catch up on everything to include my house, business and kids.

Women have a super power of being able to juggle a million things at once. My husband did the best he could to work and keep up with things while I was sick  but with a bathroom renovation in progress,  no closet and clothes stuffed in boxes during a season change, two trips in the span of one week coming up,  children needing new clothes, 5 invoices pending, executive board duties for my sorority,  and the simple task of getting back on track with cleaning and laundry  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at where to start when it comes to getting my house, business and children back on schedule.

Today I sat down and worked through my obligations and emails to start the process and thought I would share how I calm my crazy when life gets hectic.

Breathe

Yes, it can all become too much making it hard to focus on a starting point, but breathe. No matter how hard you try to keep things in order, due to circumstances seen and unforeseen life will spiral out of control at a moments notice. Gather yourself and get a clear head before tackling the steps needed to regain control.

Create a Master List

Write it all down from the simplest of tasks to the most difficult.  Get everything out of your head and onto paper. Grocery shopping, inputting information into a spreadsheet, to cleaning the bathroom, if you need to get it done, get it down on paper. This takes the pressure off of you to remember everything. Something about seeing everything on paper doesn’t make the tasks seem so daunting. I promise.

Prioritize

Looking at that master list, it’s time to prioritize. That may mean breaking larger tasks into smaller pieces to get done over a few days instead of just one. Really take account of what can wait, and place items that will restore visual order higher on the list if possible. Less clutter in my visual calms me down tremendously, that means folding clothes and getting the house clean makes me more productive in attacking other areas that need attention.

Delegate

Type A? This might be hard for you but the quicker you restore order, the quicker you can effectively control everything again. For instance, when I get overwhelmed my communication with my husband breaks down. Before I get calm enough to know I need a process to regain order everything is scribble scrabble in my head.  I literally give him the business in bits and incoherent pieces because I haven’t taken the time to decipher what I need and my communication becomes ineffective. I recently called in our counselor to help, I needed that ant hill to stay small and insignificant. With her help we were able to effectively communicate what we needed from each other. Whatever someone else can help you with, let them until you are back on top.

Stick to the Plan

Once you have the plan and have delegated tasks, STICK. TO. THE. SCRIPT. If you’ve involved other people you need to be mindful of their time and unless a change is absolutely needed, work the plan. Scratch off your accomplishments as you go and make adjustments as needed. Before you know it things will be back in order and your sanity restored.

For the first time in days I feel ready to get back in the game. How do you regroup when your life decides to get off track?

Whoever knew when I accepted a position as a call center worker for Sprint PCS back in 199*coughs into my hand* that I would not only be answering calls from irate customers but well over a decade later I’d be answering calls from co-workers turned friends turned sisters.

My children are blessed in that  over the years I’ve amassed a village of phenomenal and loving women that care for them just as much as I do. They call on birthdays, spoil in the most unbelievable ways and will flip the script and set the record straight when they step out of line in a heartbeat. They paint nails and dance to Michael Jackson and are just all around awesome.

One of the village aunties lives downtown in a happening part of town and my children love to visit her. They ask for her almost weekly and this weekend we traded in a quiet Saturday night in the burbs for a fun evening in the city.

Their eyes light up at the skyline and the railcar and the murals….and Harold’s chicken

Once we made it back to her place after eating chicken and laughing and catching up the little one got some instruction on how to play mancala, while I begged for random pieces of jewelry and sunglasses like only sisters do.

So that’s the story of our Saturday with one of the village aunties or aunt or Antie…whatever they are called in your neck of the woods.

Do your babies have village aunties or are you the village auntie?