Now this may be the side effects of the recent school summer holidays making their presence felt, but whether you have had the joys of juggling kids and work lately or not, we have all experienced life getting a little too much at times.
Sod's Law (or Bugger's Luck as it's known in Scott-Towers) dictates that when you're truly up against it, something else will happen to make it much worse, i.e.: trying to pack for a holiday and the washing machine floods, or the clutch goes on the car. Another doozie is when you're working to a deadline and one of the kids is sent home ill from school, or the little darlings declare World War IV on each other - without the provision of a (quiet) demilitarised zone for us non-combatants!
Life can become too much all of a sudden, and all at once, and you may feel like you want the world to stop revolving for a minute, so you can get off. We can be prone to "busy brain", in which we over analyse, multi-task, procrastinate and usually lose a lot of sleep for our trouble. There's a brilliant meme circulating Facebook stating: My bed is a magical place, where I suddenly remember everything I was meant to do. This epitomises busy brain perfectly. So what to do about this?
My best advice in circumstances like these is to get out from under. In my experience - when it all gets too much, I let go, drop it all for a brief spell and ground myself. I get myself out from under whatever is hanging over my head, to regain perspective, clarity and personal power; and it's so easy to do. The trickiest part in all of this is practising mindfulness; to recognise when everything's getting too intense, before it's too late. Once you've caught yourself on and recognise you're at risk of being overwhelmed, the solution is simple and effective.
I practice the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and go for a walk, boil my head in the shower/have a long, hot bath, listen to music, or read a novel (as opposed to entrepreneurial or personal development titles). Photographing the kids as they do their thing is another hobby of mine, which helps to ground and refocus me, whilst also recording their growth for posterity. Obviously you will have your own pressure points to activate, but you get the gist - it doesn't have to be expensive, fancy or death defying, just authentic to you. Grounding is anything that helps you to remain or regain balance, so whatever works for you.
Your life, and its challenges will still be there when you get back, but you will be better equipped to manage it more effectively, having recharged your energies. It's a false economy to keep pushing through fraught exhaustion, and you'd be putting yourself on the fast track to burnout - and ain't nobody got time for that! Get out from under and reclaim your power!