Manifesto for a busy week

The weekend just gone was busy and parenting heavy- multiple play dates, lots of solo parenting, lots of home chores and errands. It was a successful but tiring weekend.

There was even a sleep over. Here's O trying out the trundle.

And now I have a busy week ahead, that will be VERY work heavy. This includes: a) a busy day in the office today including a presentation and discussion with an important international visitor, b) interstate work conference with a jam packed schedule Tuesday morning to Thursday evening, and c) an all day training workshop Friday. Oh dear.

So, here is my manifesto for a good week:

1. Eat the salad. I have a tendency during busy times, especially with travel involved, to eat more junk food, when this is exactly when I need to choose healthy, sustaining options.

2. Exercise every day. Even if it's just for 20 minutes. Conferences and training sessions involve a lot of sitting, and a brisk walk to clear my head and give me energy is always worth squeezing in. One day is scheduled from 8am to 10.30 pm, however, I can see there's a break from 4-6, so that's where I can squeeze in a walk.

3. Be selective with what other work I try to do this week. I have a tendency to still try to get other work done when travelling, but this trip will be very packed. There are a couple of time sensitive work tasks that are due this week, otherwise I can push most items forward to next week. Trying to juggle the conference/training and other tasks would be a recipe for overwhelm.

4. Use the airport time to prep for my trip, plan, and relax. I have a habit of trying to fit in other work tasks at the airport, but the conference involves a number of key meetings where some preparation would be very helpful. Also taking an hour or two to relax and read a book will be important I think considering how busy the rest of the time will be,

5. Set an out of office email message from Tuesday to Friday. Given how packed these days will be, I don't want to have to to reply to any emails except those that are truly urgent. I usually don't send an out of office, but this time I will.

6. Don't plan anything major on the weekend so I can recover! Thankfully next weekend we only have swimming and one birthday party coming up, and I intend to keep a big chunk of it free for downtime and recovery, and quality time with the family of course.

So that's it. Let's hope by following these rules this week can be a positive experience, rather than simply exhausting! Wish me luck.