3 Ways To Help Your Self And Create Back To School Sanity!

This is the 3rd Post in the Back To School Sanity Series to create more sanity as you begin this school year! Today’s post examines 3 ways to tweak your SELF dimension, shift your perspective, and take action to create more sanity in your life.

MANY people who struggle with back to school stress fall into the habit of blaming everything else around them: job stress, home maintenance, too many activities, divergent schedules, carpools, hobbies, sports, church, tutoring, playdates, sleepovers…. But – really – most of these things listed are all centered around one key player: YOU.

Here are some ideas to consider, that can help you find your way back to school sanity for yourself:

Set Boundaries – The ironic part is that all of the ‘external’ factors above, is that each one can be brought into alignment with one simple concept – Setting Boundaries. How are you doing with your Back To School Boundaries? Have you set them for you and your family?

The easiest way to set boundaries is to say NO. If you are a ‘Yesser’ – this concept may be scary. This week – try it out… Just once, when a ‘no’ is brewing in the back of your brain… let it come out of your mouth.  See what happens when you draw a line and create space on the other side for you!

Identify What’s In Your Way – In the race to create self-sanity, there are self-limiters and self-motivators. Human behavior studies have shown that there is a big difference between what satisfies you and what motivates. What we know is that a sense of dissatisfaction is a much greater motivator than what satisfies.  For instance, if I’m feeling out of shape, (Cena = Dissatisfied), I’m much more motivated to avoid desert and exercise than when I’m happy – enjoying a delicious piece of homemade chocolate cake (Cena = Satisfied).  Get it? When you are unhappy, you tend to be more driven to do something about it, then when you are satisfied. So, in order to get motivated, it’s important to uncover what is NOT working for you now. How do you do that? Focus on the negative!

• What current situation is causing you stress?
• What do you hate right now about your home, systems, and self?
• Where are you fed up?
• Where do you find yourself zapped of energy?

Don’t be afraid to focus on the negative… It usually points to breakdowns and what is missing. Uncovering what dissatisfies you by answering these questions above will help you get closer to taking action for yourself.

Satisfy Your Needs TOO – If you’ve ever been on an airplane, you know the mantra…  Put YOUR oxygen mask on first before assisting another.  Do you get that? Is that really happening for you? Have you carved out time for your top priorities? Your health, your fitness, your work, your nutrition, your hobbies, your goals? If not… SET SOME, write them down, and POST THEM. Enroll your family in the quest for sanity. If mama ain’t happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy…

This post is 3rd of 4 in a series: Fixes To Create Back To School Sanity for your Spaces, Systems, Self & Support.

Want to check your self sanity dimension? Download your complete DIY Get Organized Handbook here!