Day 8 COVID Coping: Overbooking Leads to Overcooking

I planned to clean the rental condo, say goodbye to my son who I won’t see for another 3 to 6 months, drive 9 hours across Montana and Wyoming, and have a 2-hour conference book study call. If I had planned and finished 3 of those items, I would have felt calm and collected at the end of the day.

You know how this turned out. I was a wreck by 5 pm and forgot to realize there is no Zoom coverage in eastern Wyoming. So I missed the call, yelled at Jim, and ended up in tears when I got home.

Lesson Learned: Three priorities a day! That is all. Don’t sneak in a little bonus in the planner. Keep expectations reasonable. There is a lot going on, and a lot of patience, care, and perseverance expected of us. Every day asks more of our emotional health.

Remember this- just like while cooking dinner… when we add more and more priorities, something burns. And it is usually mental health boiling over. Keep our daily plans simple: meat, potatoes, and veggies. Extra priorities always sneak in the side, and if we can take care of those as well, those are dessert. But keep focusing on just the 3 priorities and we will feel accomplished at the end of the day. Slow and steady wins the race!

And don’t burn the turkey trying to also cook 2 kinds of potatoes, green bean casserole, 2 flavors of pie, home made butter rolls, and cranberry sauce.