Balance & Beyond
Balance and Beyond is the podcast for ambitious women refusing to accept burnout as the price of success. Here, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and strategies you need to achieve true balance, where your career, relationships and health all thrive and where you have the power to define success on your own terms.
Balance & Beyond
Moment: Embrace Chaos, Survive & Thrive in Busy Seasons
Busy seasons don't have to be something we merely survive and endure – they can be transformed into periods of growth, connection, and unexpected joy with the right mindset shifts.
• Acknowledge that busy times are just a season and won't last forever
• Recognize that these chaotic years with children will later be remembered as precious times of closeness
• Practice "microdosing" self-care by finding fulfillment in smaller moments rather than waiting for perfect conditions
• Use drive time with kids as valuable connection opportunities rather than viewing it as a chore
• Give yourself grace by adjusting your standards and focusing on what truly matters to your family
• Choose which aspects of life deserve your energy during busy periods
• Consider joining activities yourself rather than just facilitating everyone else's experiences
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Welcome to Balance and Beyond Moments. Your weekly dose of insight, wisdom and mindset shifts, all in 10 minutes or less, whether it's a powerful truth, a fresh perspective or a spark of inspiration. This is your space to pause, reflect and reset. Let's dive in. Let's dive in.
Speaker 1:Today we are talking about seasons and as I step into an incredibly busy one for me on multiple fronts, I wanted to share three ways we survive busy, crazy, whatever you want to call the season, without losing our minds or ending up all in jail for killing each other. My family is actually on the verge of starting a new chapter as we step into this winter season of sport, but also after a very long time looking, I'm proud to say that Mick has started a new job in the last week. So we have gone from having somebody who has been around a lot more to someone who is going into the office. He's working full time. Yes, he has some flexibility and some work from home, but it's a whole new adjustment for everybody. On top of that, nikita, my eldest, got a job over the school holiday period. We're stepping into winter sport, which is a really busy time for us for netball, soccer and dancing competition season. So bring on the world of fake eyelashes and hairspray, which is going to become our reality on many weekends.
Speaker 1:I share this because this time of year is very busy for many families and it can be very easy to get overwhelmed with this time of year, and whether you're a family who has a busy winter period, if you're stepping into a busy period at work or maybe you're just coming out of one, I'm pretty sure that it's never long or it's not long until you will be in your next one. The challenge can be, or the temptation can be, to hold on to white knuckle and survive your way through these busy periods, wish them to be over, plan a holiday at the end and hope that everybody will be in one piece on the other side. But I've got a different perspective about how we can not just survive these times in our lives, whether it's a physical season or, you know, an end of year, result season or a project season or end of financial year but to actually thrive in them and have them be a place that is as nourishing as it is busy, instead of just being something to push through and hope that you get out the other side. So three things or three ways that I managed to survive this time of year and note that this is a busy time for everyone in our family. So I decided a few years ago that I'm not just going to sit on the sidelines and be busy for everybody else, I'm going to contribute to the busy and get some benefit out of it. So this year I'm playing soccer and nipple on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. So it makes the juggle, I guess you could say, extra challenging, but it's worth it because I'm now finding ways to fill my cup as well as taking care of everybody else. So the first way, the first shift that I make to survive this time of year, is know that it's a phase, this is just a season, and even using that language can be really helpful to know that it's not going to be forever.
Speaker 1:Winter sport only lasts for a certain amount of time. Competitions are over and I also know that this time of life where I've got exceptionally busy kids whether it's work activities, school, birthday parties, school, whatever it may be I know that I've only got a few more years left of this, Nikita's in year 10. So in a couple more years she's going to be done with school and I've had it on good authority from many friends whose children have finished school that we will look back on this time, even though it can feel busy, even though it can feel chaotic. We'll look back and say, wow, like we were really close to our kids then. We saw them so much. We were in the car with them all the time. We had things to talk about, we were bonded and even though they remember the crazy, they remember the laughter and the fun and the cheering on of the kids on the sidelines or the claps or the applause or whatever it is. So I'm very conscious that, while it can, I'm also cherishing these moments, knowing that when I'm older we will look back on gosh. You know how did we handle that? I remember when you know we were doing all this stuff over the winter period. So two things can be true you can cherish it and you can also sometimes need to really hold on to yourself to make sure that you make it out.
Speaker 1:The other side, another way that I survive this time of year, this season, is my wonderful friend microdosing. And by microdosing I mean there may not be the physical time to binge watch a TV series or even sometimes to watch a movie. So what has to happen is you have to learn to do things in smaller doses but to get more out of them, and this might mean things like self-care becomes a 10 minute walk because that's all you've got, letting go of the old view that if it's not 45 minutes and you're in deep sweat then it's not worth it. So moving your body when you can, having that catch up with a friend, even knowing that you've only got 30 minutes, how do you reframe and take out that old perfectionistic thinking of all or nothing and really lean into a toolkit? Part of the microdosing that I really lean into in this busy season is also microdosing connection.
Speaker 1:So I do a lot of driving with children in the car and, rather than seeing that as something that I have to do, I have to sit in traffic and it's annoying and stressful. How do I use that as an opportunity to actually connect with what's going on in their lives, to make it fun, to laugh, to giggle, to dance, and you'd be amazed at. You know, four or five times a week I've got these beautiful windows where I have a captive audience and they have to talk to me because they're not allowed their phones in the front of the car. So I have this person here who I can talk to, and that is when all the difference happens. And, lastly, a big one that I love to have tattooed on myself and anybody else in my orbit is you have to give yourself grace.
Speaker 1:When times are busy, the washing basket might get a little overrun, there might be a few too many air fry meals and a lack of vegetables on occasion, but I choose what matters. And for us what matters is our sport, it's our connection to our community, it's our friends, it's moving our body, and to us that can matter more than necessarily a really tidy house, or, you know, than necessarily a really tidy house or you know, being on top of tax returns or all these things that can sometimes take time. So you get to give yourself that grace, you get to adjust the bar of your standards and decide what really matters. And for us, this is a season of movement, of connection, of fun and knowing that we are giving our kids different values, different opportunities to see their parents exercising, to see their parents moving, being part of a team. My husband's a ref too, so you know him coming in and sharing stories of how he diffuses conflict. So there are a whole range of lessons that you will learn by stepping into a busy season and deciding that you're going to do that differently.
Speaker 1:So, whatever time of year you are heading into, I wish you much luck. If you are a winter busy family, like us, but you shouldn't need luck If you can see this as a phase. Shift your mindset, learn to microdose, give yourself loads and loads of grace. I definitely know I will. I'll see you again on the next moment. Thanks for taking this moment for yourself. If this resonated, share it with a friend who needs to hear it today, and don't forget to subscribe to Balance and Beyond for full episodes and more of these bite-sized breakthroughs. See you next time.
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