7 Ways to Get Your Day Back on Track

Ah, the inevitable day that doesn’t go as planned and gets a bit off track.  I’ve had those days – those days of pots boiling over, glue on the floor, hair in a sloppy ponytail, too loud of voices, and more. They are those days when I sit at my table and look at the time and I sit there thinking what have I accomplished? and I just don’t know how to get the day back on track. Those days are plain and simple challenging. So you need  a strategy, a plan for how you’re going to get the off track day back on track.

Here are seven simple ways.

1. Break the Pattern. Stop whatever you are doing, right in the middle of the crazy day, and break the pattern of the day. You know how it is when everything just seems to keep going wrong or keep going crazy or your hair is standing up because it’s so loud in the house? You have to break the pattern of that day. So if tensions are high, find a way to reset the mood. It’s hard, it takes work, but it’s worth it. Sometimes there is nothing better then getting to the end of a day and realizing that you did it even when the odds looked stacked against you.

2. Make a List. Not one of those gigantic lists of everything that you want to get done from scrubbing the baseboards to wiping down the interior of light fixtures to sorting, cleaning, mending, and folding all the clothes in the seasonal clothing switch. Do not make one of those lists. Instead, make a really simple list. Like this: Read to the preschooler. Make dinner. Unload dishwasher. Call a friend. Sweep floor. Simple, easy to accomplish and yet you feel and see that you finished things.

3. Laugh. Put this on your list: find something to laugh about. Gather up the littles, tell them jokes that only they would think are funny and get them laughing. Then start to laugh yourself. Pull out a movie, a memory, anything — just break the mood from tension to laughing. It may sound cliche, but it is totally true – laughter is the best medicine. So start the giggles now.

4. Be Grateful. Nothing helps me break out of my mood or reset a day more than simply stepping back and being grateful. At times this is a really hard practice to actually put into practice. It’s not easy being grateful when you’re having to wipe the floor for the 3rd time in an hour or the kids rooms look like creative explosions of toys, papers and clothes or you’re constantly feeling behind. Those things, at least for me, can really grate at my being grateful type self. So often, again, on that simple to-do list, I’ll put be the words be  grateful. Then, as I’ve shared before, I’ll force myself to start thinking of thankful items. A floor to wipe up, toys to put away, and little ones who call me mom. A grateful heart causes contentment to grow.

5. Take a Walk. Anywhere. Around your house. Around the block. Up and down the stairs. In the kitchen. To the coffee pot.  Work to clear your mind. When the anxiety of the day crowds in simply acknowledge what there is to do, tell yourself you’ll get to it, but then don’t dwell on it. Breathe. You don’t want to live with overwhelm – and honestly, overwhelm alerts us that something needs to change. So take that walk, or find a moment to slow down, and then come back, be grateful, look at your list and do one thing.

6. Put on Music. Soundtracks are my favorite. My boys would choose Star Wars or Indiana Jones if they could – don’t go there unless you want the light sabers out and the energy to ramp up. Find a station on Pandora of Soundtracks, turn it up {and skip those you don’t like} and add some music to your life. This works almost every single time in our home on those hard days – a bit of music can change perspective and can add beauty to the ordinary. My playlist that inspired my book The Brave Art of Motherhood is listed below. 

7. Remember. This is a season. This is a day. One day, in the collection of days in a year, in the collection of days in a life. This day, this day that is a bit of track, doesn’t need to define you or your motherhood success. So remember. Remember the good days, and what you love about being a mom, and above all remember to give yourself just a bit of grace. And please remember, sometimes we just have a hard day — for those days read this post Dear Mom on the Hard Days. We all have them, they don’t define us, we just keep moving.

Now write your list, put on your music – get my playlist HERE, remember that you can do it, be grateful, give yourself much grace and pick up and start again.

You can totally do it.

What are some of your ways that you help get a day back on track?

~Rachel