stressors

This is Chloe’s guest post – Simplify your Life week 6

This week’s theme couldn’t have come at a better time for me.

I have a 5 day long music festival to organise for the very first time (needless to say we’re starting from scratch!) at work for the end of June.

As if this wasn’t enough, I also had a FET (frozen embryo transfer) planned at the beginning of July. My body started to act weird and this weekend I was sure I would never be able to get the FET done this summer and that I would have to wait until September. Knowing that, you’ll understand why I got a terrible score at the stress test included in this week’s lesson when I filled it in on Sunday night: I got 22 signs of stress, which means that I am 20% effective. Only!

Luckily, my FET issues got solved on Monday and I might have less stress signs if I’d redo the test today. But this didn’t solve everything, by far!

Here are the main stressors I’ve identified, and the solutions I’d like to apply:

AT HOME:

Infertility: not knowing what will happen, not controlling things. Solution: maybe see a therapist to help me deal with the emotional side of this process. I can’t control the situation but I can control my attitude towards it!
Being overweight (well… obese, to be honest!): I feel bad about myself, guilty, always tired. Solution: sleep (it’s a big factor in weight loss, even if often underestimated), eat more good food (eating less of the bad ones doesn’t work with me) and exercise some. That last one might not be done right now considering my crazy schedule, but it’s on the list nonetheless!
Feeling that I do a lot of chores compared to DBF (even if it’s not completely true). Solution: express this feeling (he can’t read my mind!) and simply ask him to help me.
Money worries. Solution: live frugally by cutting the last few extras, create and follow a budget.
Guilt for not doing enough, perfectionism. Solution: admit that I can’t do it all, give up on some things/activities, declutter my (self-imposed) obligations.

AT WORK:

Too much work. Solution: delegate, wait before saying yes and make sure that I can do something properly and without stress before accepting it.
One of my bosses’ interruptions and sense of urgency. Solution: plan for interruptions and make “real work” on other times of the day, when I know she won’t be around.
Not feeling recognised and respected. Solution: take my distances, this is “just” a job!

Okay, I know some of those solutions are easier said than done, but listing the things I want to work on is the first step.

I will start taking action on the items that I can manage in this crazy time without adding too much extra stress to my life.

For example, finding the time to exercise wouldn’t be easy and would do more harm than good. But getting to bed earlier to get more zzzzz in is totally doable and would help tremendously. It’s a cost/benefit balance that I need to find!