A key motto in my home is “always be prepared”.

If only I heeded those words all of the time…my son would never have gotten sunburn on his cheeks or that scar on his lip.  That ding wouldn’t be in my refrigerator door + my crockpot would be stewing right now.  I’d be packed for my Money Club Live Intensive tomorrow.

I do try though.

In fact, oftentimes, I am over-prepared.

I drive myself crazy worrying + fretting.

Planning + organizing.

Only to realize that I had gone too far + spent too much time.

A perfect example of this happened while we were packing for the Outer Banks a few weeks ago.

I was staging items all over the house.  These towels.  Those bathing suits.  That beach chair on the top storage shelf.  Don’t forget this charger + that cooler!

My friends were all doing the same thing – we were getting prepared.

Then my partner flatly informed me that he wanted to pack everything we needed for the week into the trunk of our vehicle.  No roof rack.  No towable rental unit.

I was skeptical, but he said that he would take care of it – so I agreed – and then I stashed a boatload of items under my feet, beneath my seat, and on my lap – just in case.

When we left the driveway that morning, I felt pretty good about the whole thing.

When we arrived in our driveway in NC, followed by our friends + their pick-up trucks packed to the max, that good feeling quickly disappeared.  Maybe I didn’t have what we needed.  What if we had to borrow something from another family?  Go buy something at the store?  Oh, the horror.

Seven days + nights went by – and guess what?  We had packed everything we needed in the trunk of our car.  We hadn’t brought that much.  Just what we needed.  But we had been prepared.

This week, my twins are at Boy Scout Day Camp.  They have this amazing goal of earning their Eagle Scout Awards at the same time + then being in the newspaper for it.  I love it!  They are learning to be prepared.  To be systematic.  To think before they set-out or take-action.

And here’s a tip for how to do that.  Set limits.  I have had most of each day this week to myself while they have been off learning how to shoot a bow + arrow and do basic first aid.  I thought that would be perfect because I had a lot to get done this week.

My client + I are heading into a big launch period, and I’m leaving for my Intensive in the morning.  I am in the middle of my OBM Certification Week and I’m knee-deep in projects.  As usual, I have a lot of laundry to fold.

And with all of this time at my disposable, I feel like I am behind.  Like there is something more I need to do or add or check.  Do you know why?  It’s because I have too much time and I am over-preparing.

My Juicy Glad-I-Caught-That:  Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. ~ Parkinson’s Law

So, I’ve set a soft-limit on my evening.  I am going to work for another 30 minutes, hug my children when they walk in the door from camp, take them to paint a community mural at our library, and support my partner at his open-mic night.

Because I’m prepared for this launch, and my Intensive, and my certification – and the laundry is all clean…it just needs to be folded 😉  Hey…I’m not perfect!

So set a limit.  Sit down with your spouse tonight.  Snuggle with your child.  Turn off your computer.  Put down the pen.  Walk away – because you’ve got this.

For those of you who are reading my posts every week – thank you.  Your comments + support have been adding to the joy in my day.

In love,

N

xoxox