No. Nope. No Thanks.

You don’t have to say yes to everything – in fact, it might be doing more harm than good.  Learn to say, “No” and learn to be OK with saying it. Really. #YouDeserveThis

Learn the difference between essential, immediate and important. They are not the same. What do you need to do right now? Really. Exactly right now.  Important things can wait, and may not be as important as the moment suggested.  Essential items will come up soon.  Focus on the immediate items – and make sure they’re really immediate.  I’ve started making multiple to do lists.  Madness or Genius? You decide.  I have a list of what I have to do right now (or over the weekend) and what needs to be done, but can wait.  Stress level zero – love it.

Focus on what really matters. We started family movie nights on Mondays.  We make dinner, make picnic blankets and all watch a movie together.  The sink is full of dishes, homework needs to be done and we’re putting off other things.  I’m confident we’ve made the right decision.

Make progress somewhere. If I’m overwhelmed with what I’ve got to do, I look for an easy win.  Can I clean the fridge? Can I finish the easy work project? Can I get my kids involved and make it fun? If I can make progress somewhere, anywhere, then I start to feel better because I’m confident that I can do this. I really can do this.

Get it out of your mind. My two go-to strategies are my task lists and my running routine.  If my mind is flooded, I write everything down and organize it.  Then I can just do it and don’t have to think about it.  If I’m stressed out with the bulk of stuff in my life, I go running.  An hour pushing myself hard releases all of the stress from everything else.  Find your release and use it to save your mind.

You deserve to say no. You deserve to focus on what you want.  You deserve to spend time on yourself. #YouDeserveThis