How has your week been?

My past week has been a mix of work and leisure time with the kids out of school for Winter break, but also an unexpected stomach flu that took us all out for a couple of days.

When unexpected things happen in your week or you have too much on your plate, how you prioritize and mentally navigate your day makes all the difference between you feeling super stressed or calm and present.

And showing up as the leader, parent or person you want to be.

Are you feeling like there aren't enough hours (and mental energy) in the day and you're struggling to get everything done that you said you would do?

Do you push yourself harder to get it all done or avoid it altogether because you're feeling so overwhelmed?

Or perhaps you feel on top of things for the most part, but you also feel bad about all the other things you think you should or could be doing.

When you're in this place, doing more is NOT the answer.

It's the time to slow down, do less and focus on what really matters, as counterintuitive as that seems. 

This is a big lesson I've learned over the years and something I still have to remind myself of when I overcommit or something unexpected happens (and I need more space).

The quickest way to relieve some of the pressure is to give yourself permission to take something off your plate.

This is an obvious one, but is often the last to happen because we keep trying to do it all!

You will instantly feel lighter when you do.

Be bold. What can you take off your plate today or next week to relieve some of the pressure? Even something mentally where you know you won't get to it, but it's weighing you down?

Let. It. Go. 

It will also be easier to flex when the unexpected things happen (which they will) when you aren't overloaded.

But what about navigating the "messy" everyday moments when things don't go as planned?

Here is a 5-minute clip from a group call with Balanced Leader clients where I keep it real how the week was going . . . this was before we ALL came down with the stomach flu on the weekend. 

I talk about why it matters to do less (not more), share what helps me to navigate those messier moments with more calm and presence, and a simple one-minute exercise you can do to reset anytime you need.

Finally, as you wrap up your week, instead of focusing on everything you didn't do, take a few minutes to celebrate what you did do and the wins.

I guarantee you're doing better than you think.

What Next?

You can sign up for Stacey's masterclass, The Confident "No" here.

Stacey L. Olson is a Leadership and Certified Positive Psychology Coach, has 15 years of corporate experience and has gone through her own transformational change from burning out to balanced in life while performing at a high level (both in her corporate career and own business). She works with professionals who want to work less, live more and be their best even with all the demands, high expectations and messiness of everyday life. Stacey is the founder of The Balanced Leader™ program and offers executive and leadership coaching, workshops, and speaking.