3 Ways to Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed + GIVEAWAY

The struggle has never been so real. You may have noticed that unlike many of my fellow bloggers, I didn’t do a 2017 highlight reel or list out my 2018 goals. It’s not because I didn’t have an amazing year or land on my personal and professional goals; to be honest, I didn’t because I just didn’t know where to begin. If you’ve ever felt lost yourself, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about: overwhelmed to the point of inaction. Ironically, I’m a Type A planner which has come in handy with so many things: planning my wedding, travelling for work, sorting out my finances… but combine that with keeping my career on track, this side hustle and maintaining my personal life. It all just became TOO much.

What I’ve discovered after one (okay, multiple) teary breakdowns is that sometimes life has a way of working itself out. After my most recent panic attack, I came across a podcast which challenged me to change my thinking. I’m a Type A planner but my weakness is that I focus too much on long-term goals. So when I don’t accomplish them, for whatever reason, in my mind I’m a failure. But what I fail to see and acknowledge is all the smaller accomplishments that I’ve achieved en route to attaining that larger goal. And those small accomplishments are definitely worth celebrating!

No longer will I neglect the short-terms goals and actions, regardless of how small I may think they are. At the end of the day, these are the building blocks and stepping stones to being a #girlboss, a great friend and wife, growing my business and finding happiness in the every day. So on that note, here are my 3 tips, and ultimately short term goals, to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Make time for yourself.

You know that expression, “health is wealth”? They’re not wrong! Your mental, emotional and physical well-being are typically the first thing you neglect in periods of stress. But it really should be the opposite. For me, I always know that I’m overwhelmed when I haven’t worked out for a long period of time… this last round lasted over a month. So, I started to officially make time for myself each and every day by blocking time in my calendar for some room to breathe, work out, walk the dog or to just disconnect from it all. It sounds silly, but it works!

Write down your long-term AND short-term goals.

As I mentioned above, the key to consistent and achievable goal planning is to write down short-term goals that support long-term, loftier ones. Another thing I’ve learned is instead of writing annual goals, work instead quarter by quarter. Break down your bigger goals into smaller, bite-sized ones. For example, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds by the end of the year, then your quarterly goals could be: “give up sugar” or “work out 3 times per week.” I assign tasks to each of my goals—action items that you can easily integrate into your life. For the goal of “giving up sugar,” an action item could be “buy more fresh fruit.” Or to ensure that you “work out 3 times per week,” you could schedule training sessions with your bestie so you’re committed. Long story short, the more you break down your goals, the easier they are to accomplishing them.

Get a good night’s rest.

You can’t accomplish anything if you feel like crap. And it all starts with a good night’s rest. Growing up and all throughout university, I slept on a mattress from a big box store. It was fairly average but as I got older and my body wasn’t getting any younger, I realized I needed to invest in a real mattress. I made the plunge with my linens first, upgrading my pillows, sheets and duvets—it was way easier to swallow cost-wise. Meanwhile I kept saving up for a mattress upgrade. In the way digital marketing works, I suddenly got ads everywhere for mattresses, everything from Casper to Endy. But I wasn’t convinced. The thought of my mattress arriving rolled up in a box made me feel as if it was compromising on quality.

Enter LunaZen. Made in Canada, LunaZen’s mattresses are handcrafted with the highest quality products. Their three layered mattress, comprised of a bi-level pocket coil system, EcoTex™ Soy Foam and Zen-M Memory Foam with 100% gel infusion, means that you get to sleep on the softest yet firmest heaven you could ever dream of.

I’m a very picky sleeper; I like a firm mattress, but not too firm, that molds to the shape of my body and supports the alignment of my  spine. And while I’m not looking for the mattress in the bowling ball TV commercial (you know the one!) I do share a bed and don’t want to be woken up every time he moves. I was graciously gifted a mattress from LunaZen, and after sleeping on it for the past 2 months I can confidently say it ticks all the boxes.

It did take awhile to get used to, but to put it into perspective, I upgraded from an average foam mattress to ultra-luxe memory foam—inevitably, there will always be a transition period. But once I got over it, I had the sleep that I had been dreaming about all my life. Pun 100% intended. Plus it arrived flat in a box so I knew I wouldn’t have to deal with potentially days or weeks of damage from being rolled up.

I love this mattress and can’t rave more about it. So I’m giving away a Queen-Sized Mattress to one of you lucky readers! All you need to do is head to my Instagram post to find out how you could enter. Good luck!

This post was brought to you by LunaZen. Thoughts and opinions are my own.