MamaManagement

Does your schedule run your life?  Does your to-do list?  Do you find yourself often running on autopilot, mindlessly accomplishing tasks barely aware of what you're doing...and maybe even why you're doing it?  Do you ever look at certain processes at work (or at home) and think, why do we even do this? Or, why do we do it this way? And the only real answer is because that's how we've always done it. I have. Especially the to-do list thing.  Living your life on autopilot, doing things just to check them off a list, doing things simply because we've always done them...these are all signs of mindless living. And mindless living can, quite easily, lead to anxiety and depression. (Case in point: my list making started as an anxiety coping mechanism. (Write it down then you won't worry about forgetting to do it.) But it eventually turned into an anxiety inciter when the lists started running my life.) When you're asleep at the wheel of your own life, following an

Anyone else feeling it? This feeling...like your slogging through swamplandia. The grey skies. The winter weather relapse. The seemingly never ending pandemic. The daily slog that feels like a 2 ton truck on your shoulders and mud and muck under your feet. The exhaustion. The lack of patience. The feel of being at the pathetic, frayed end of your rope. It's called Burnout .  Burnout is what happens when we don't take care of ourselves--or our jobs/responsibilities don't allow us to take care of ourselves. It's the state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It's feeling overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. (Yeah, that sounds about right.) Burnout is characterized by... - poor performance and reduced creativity (check) - difficulty focusing (check) - lack of motivation (check) - feeling helpless/hopeless to fix things (check) - exhaustion (check) - headaches, stomachaches, or body ach

I think maybe what we and our bodies need is more love.  Two years years ago I wrote about Belly Love (Link:  MamaManagement Belly Love ) and I've recently been thinking more and more about how loving ourselves needs to become a practice, something we do every day. We need to make it a part of our daily routines.  And affirmations are great--I'm a big believer in them. But I think when it comes to our bodies, we need to connect those kind words to our physical beings. I've talked before about lovingly rubbing my belly when I lotion after a shower in an effort to really accept its new Buddha-like softness. But it seems to me that our whole bodies...our whole selves need that kind of love. I also know that new habits are easiest to implement when you attach them to existing habits--it's called habit stacking (It's from Atomic Habits. Great Book. Read it.) So, look at your day for opportunities to stack body love habits on top of existing habits. Here's what I'

Long time no see! I know. I sort of dropped off the face of the blog-earth for, like, a year. (#COVID) But I'm back! At least on occasion...when I have something to say, or think I can be of some help to you all while we're out here journeying through life together. So let's start this return to blogging with a commonly used adage in our world today: Embrace the journey.  How many times have you heard that encouragement? A hundred? A thousand? A hundred thousand? And how many times have you agreed with it? Nodded your head? Maybe responded, with an affirmation volley: Yes. It's about the journey, not the destination? Nod. Nod. A lot. And it's true. It's a great old adage--that's why it's an old adage. But these kinds of sayings aren't really just supposed to be taken at face value. We're not supposed to nod in agreement and then go back to scrolling on our phones or crying into our pints of ice cream. These sayings are meant to be internalized, a

It's December 2nd, and the holiday season is officially in full swing. We've all just survived Thanksgiving, only to be thrown head first into the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/December Land of Craziness. This is normally the season of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm for me. At least it has been since I had kids. In years past, I've started slipping down this stress-slope in September, with back-to-school. I pick up some serious speed as we careen through autumn and Halloween, fall on my butt come November as I attempt to write 50,000 words of a new book in NaNoWriMo, and then "handle" Thanksgiving. Finally, I crawl toward the New Year's finish line, bedraggled and beaten, while simultaneously creating a fantastic birthday for my daughter and a memorable Christmas for all. And, sadly, most every year, I am blindsided by all of this. Sigh. I know. If it happens every year and I, theoretically, know it's coming, how can I be blindsided? Your guess

This is not a To Do List. This is a Cosmic Book of Hopes and Dreams and Deeper Whys. (Sculpture by David Kracov) I've spent the last week or so in a heightened state of anxiety. It has not been fun. I tried blaming in on the move and all the extra stuff there is to do with the house and the life. I've spent more than four hours at the DMV in the last week and I still have to go back one more time. That's reason enough for anxiety, right? But then, last night, (after having a mini anxiety attack) I remembered what my last therapist said to me around this same time last year. Amy, this is your stress time. Every year, the activities and responsibilities ramp up in October, hit a frenzied peak in mid December, and then slowly descend back to normal by New Years. And every year your anxiety follows the same path. This happens every year for me since I had kids. Every. Damn. Year. And every year I am surprised by it (Every. Damn. Year.) and try to shove it down and p