I had a hard time getting to sleep Sunday night.  We traveled over the weekend and I was back in my own bed, but Monday was the first day of school for my kids and it had been a busy weekend.  I had a late night case of monkey mind, with a million thoughts running in a million different directions. 

I have kid projects to work on.  My little guy requires parent time every night for flash cards and reading.  My middle guy is always struggling with time management.  There are the new challenges of Junior High for my eldest.  

I have a data project to assess marketing, client care and advertising effectiveness for the business, and a web page in need of updating.  And personally, we are starting a self prescribed wellness program as a family. 

The first draft of this listed even more challenges, but I will spare you.  Your time is precious and I am not going to waste it.  So, Monday morning, I took a deep breath in a moment of quiet, and I gained some clarity.  I reminded my self of things I tell my clients all the time.  So here they are:

1. I may already have what I need.  I just need to look. 
   • I was headed to Target, but before I left, I took a trip through a child’s desk drawer.  I found all the items I was seeking to stock a homework basket for the dining room table, like stapler, pencils, scissors, extra glue, flash cards and a ruler.  Cha-ching!
2. Not all these projects need to be finished today.  They just need to get started. 
   • Back-to-school routines can take a few weeks to perfect. 
   • My data projects is self assigned.  So, if it takes a few days instead of one to compile my data, so be it.  Which leads me to…
3. Progress in little pieces is still progress.
   • I exercised this morning and took my vitamins.  Yeah Colleen!
   • I have to admit, I only walked 30 minutes instead of my goal of 45, and I did not take my vitamins until after 10 am.  But I still did both.  And since I did not have a chance to do either on Sunday, I still made progress.
   • Doing my data project one year at a time, or tackling the academic record binders one child at a time is still progress.  And much less intimidating that trying to do it all at once.
4. Multi-tasking is a myth (that will be another blog for another day), but sometimes things work out.  And if results are more important than relaxing right now, use waiting or down time efficiently. 
   • I am safe and hands free, but I formulated this while driving on the Tollway, on the way to a client appointment.
   • My youngest has soccer practice Thursday afternoons, so I walk the loop around the park while he plays.
   • I used travel time in the car over the weekend to ask my pre-teen’s opinion on some ideas I have for my Organizing For Teens class that I am creating.  He gave me excellent insight!

So, if Back To School is keeping you up at nights, too, take a deep breath, remember these ideas and gain some perspective on your situation.