Many people are routinely stressed out because they try to cram too many activities into a given day or week. That can take a toll on parents’ and children’s mental and physical health and weaken family bonds.
How Overscheduling Can Affect Your Life and Relationships
Trying to fit too much into each day can cause you to feel tired and run down. You may worry, feel anxious and have difficulty focusing. You may also experience physical symptoms, such as indigestion or headaches.
Being overscheduled can make it hard to accomplish important tasks. If you’re constantly thinking about what you have to do next, you may rush through things and make mistakes, or you may be too distracted to focus and struggle to get anything done.
If you’re hurrying to get out of work so you can pick up your kids from after-school activities and cook dinner, you may feel like you barely have any time to breathe. That stressed-out feeling will be apparent to your kids and it can make them feel anxious, too.
Being overscheduled can prevent parents and children from spending quality time together, eating meals as a family and talking about what is going on in their lives. That can cause family members to feel disconnected from each other and can strain bonds.
Why So Many People Are Overscheduled
In families with several children, often each child participates in multiple activities. If all the kids belong to different clubs and teams and have different schedules, that can leave parents rushing to drop them off and pick them up, leaving the entire family feeling stressed out. Additionally, people of all ages frequently feel obligated to attend social events because they don’t want to disappoint others.
How to Slow Down
Set a limit on the number of activities for each child. Have a family discussion about which activities are most important to your kids and let them focus on those so your family won’t feel overwhelmed and miss out on quality time together.
Think about your schedule and ask yourself if you try to do more than you can comfortably handle. If so, take a step back and focus on what’s really important. For example, if you attend social engagements only out of a sense of obligation, remember that it’s ok to decline an invitation because you have too much on your plate or because you simply don’t want to go.
Give Your Family Some Time to Breathe
Everyone needs some “me time” on a regular basis. Whether it’s time to exercise, journal, hang out with friends, focus on a hobby or take a hot bath, it’s essential to take the time to relax and unwind from the stresses of daily life. Figure out where your priorities lie and identify areas where you can cut back to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
