The last few years for me have been a cycle of working until I’m exhausted (at work and home), take a week of leave from work to go on holiday and catch up on sleep, come back and plan to do things differently and learn to say no, and then start again working until I’m exhausted… and so on. Today I went back to work after a fantastic week off relaxing in the Lake District, and I’ve been thinking about that “plan to do things differently” bit. Can I actually do it this time?
I have always been a bit of a perfectionist. I like to be organised, and can’t cope with day to day life without a list or two to work from. I know when things are getting out of control as I start to not be bothered about things, I don’t have a list and things start to get messy. This is just the way I’ve always been I think – I need my working environment to be clean and tidy and to feel organised in order to feel in control of what I am doing.
So what changes can I make to my day to day routine so stop the “out of control” signs from showing again? How can I get in the car on the way home from work and not sit and worry about all the things I didn’t do in the office and all the things I haven’t got time to do at home? How can I make time for exercise, blogging, playing games on my xbox and wii, practising my trombone and bass guitar, watching films and listening to music?
I did think about Tai Chi, which I know would be adding something else into my already busy schedule, but as it’s all about clearing the mind and relaxing the body I thought that might work. I tried a one off taster class recently and enjoyed it. A friend looked for me and unfortunately couldn’t find any classes where I live – but there are some near work but that might not be possible. Maybe swimming – I love the water – but I think I’d go a few times then give up like I seem to with every other sort of excercise. I’m actually quite a lazy person – I’d much rather be sat on the sofa!
So I’m looking for Splodz Blogz readers to give me some advice! What can I do? How can I switch off? What is the best way to keep on top of things at home so I don’t end up just leaving everything to get really bad and then get all upset because it’s so out of control?! Any suggestions will be carefully considered… and I’m planning a future blog post to share your ideas with others just in case they might help someone else too.
This post is written as someone who knows they suffer from anxiety which leads me to panic about silly things. I am looking for practical suggestions to help me change the way I look at things and hopefully prevent future ‘episodes’ as well as to share on Splodz Blogz with others who might want similar advice.