How to Survive an Impossible Week

Do the planets line up sometimes when your "must do's" exceed your capacity to balance your non-negotiables of good sleep, eat well and exercise??Show of hands??? ?????? You're not alone and yet there is no "Impossible Week Management Guide for Dummies" Maybe I should write that as my next book? What do you think??Honestly, I'm a little punchy right now as I'm having one of those weeks.?So, let me share with you my insights and hopefully, they'll resonate with you.?

Insight:?You and only you have set the bar too high. Most likely, you are accountable for 80% of what is on your plate and therefore can take back control. The exception is life events for which at times, they control 80% of your time for which that is your focus and forgive yourself for everything else that is not getting done. It will still be there!

In real life: I got everything I wished for and then some. I'm managing 2-3 clients, my husband is out of town so I'm on dog duty full time, I'm commuting 10 hours a week and I have 8 hour of curling scheduled and I'm heading out for a curling tournament this weekend. Ugh, we didn't plan this very well, but abundance is a good thing; isn't it??

Anyway, I'm surviving by leveraging our community to walk the dog, I delayed a few appointments to future weeks, I'm writing my newsletter later than usual (you'll forgive me right?!), going to sleep early and waking up early to manage the house and taking calls during my commute. There's a lot of organization involved, but I'm surviving because I have the "must do's" all organized and after that, nothing else really matters and I'm okay with that.?

The dog is happy, healthy meals are made, the laundry & dishes pile up (oh well!), I am serving my clients, I won a few games in curling with some amazing shots and all my delayed meetings are completely understandable. I'm feeling energized because I lowered the bar and feel much more successful and I'm surviving.?

• Framework:?Make a list of everything you want to get done?
• Prioritize the list
• Keep the top 20% as urgent / must do's.
• Remove the bottom 20% - forget about them or delay
• Anything else that you get done of the remaining 60%, give yourself a high 5 ?for being an over achiever.?

Now, I'm winging this a bit, but I simply want to give you something to really see if what you have as important is only important to you and perhaps you can lower the bar and give yourself some grace during these Impossible Weeks.?

Impact:?Energy Management, Learning a new skill of giving yourself some grace and learning how to better prioritize.?Challenge:?If you or your team has issues with good prioritization or decision logic, there are more sophisticated?tools that can take this skill to the next level for better efficiency. If this is an opportunity?for you, consider leveraging me to do a 30 minute complimentary "lunch & learn" for you to elevate the skills on your team.?Message me if interested!?

• Need more help?I found a good article:?Three Behaviors to Manage Chaos in Your Life.?
• I also wrote an article about a time I was in Chaos and how I got myself organized:?Framework of One
• Want to connect as part of a collective, consider The Drop In Collective offered on?November 14th? &?November 15th ?where a team can help you navigate your unique situations with confidence. See below for more details.
• The?Drop In CEO podcast ,?my blog ?and?my book , The CEO's Compass can be great resources for you to navigate challenges with confidence
• If you just want to connect with me and see how I can support you in a business or personal setback,?let's have a conversation.

Wishing you well and continued success!

-Deb