Episode 45: Managing Maycember: 5 Strategies for Your Busiest Season
ITUNES | SPOTIFY
Are you staring at the calendar for May wondering how this month could get any busier? They call it "Maycember" for a reason. It's that sneaky month when end-of-school activities, performances, Mother's Day, teacher appreciation, graduation, and spring sports collide in a perfect storm of chaos.
It's a lot - trust me, I feel it too. But you don't have to white-knuckle your way through it. In this episode, I walk you through five practical strategies to maintain your sanity and your energy.
Whether you're juggling all that comes with Maycember or any busy season that threatens to derail your well-being, these proven strategies will help you navigate it all with confidence. No Pinterest perfection required – just real solutions for busy, working moms.
links & resources mentioned in this episode:
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You are listening to the Life Coach for Working Moms podcast, the show where we are talking about what it actually takes to make life work as a working mom. I'm your host, Katelyn Denning, a full time working mom of three and a certified life and executive coach. I'm so glad you're here and I hope you enjoy this week's episode.
Hello and welcome to episode 45 of the podcast. I'm so grateful that you're here. I'm excited to dive into this topic with you, and as I sit here recording this episode, it's the end of April, well, it's almost the end of April, and I feel it coming. Do you feel that too? It feels like the beginning of November.
I always think of the beginning of November as being the top of a rollercoaster. You're sitting at the top of a rollercoaster, just ready to tip over and zoom full speed ahead toward the bottom of the hill, which is in this image the end of the year.
Well. We are sitting at the top of another hill on another rollercoaster because we are about to turn the calendar page over and enter Maycember. If you're not familiar with that term, you will be very soon, and it is the combination of May and those November, December months, which we think of without prompting as just very, very busy full months.
But May is this sneaky month. You think it's going to be all sunshine and rainbows because the temperatures warm up. At least around here we hope. Fingers crossed the rain is slowing down a little bit so the flowers are out. It's beautiful, the sun is out. But then surprise you end up running completely ragged as everything that one could possibly cram into a month gets crammed into this month.
Now, I think May or December is particularly busy if you have school aged kids. I know I'm preaching through the choir right here. As a reminder, I've got a fifth grader, a second grader, and a kindergartner. So the first year that all three of them are in school. And I'm not sure, maybe my memory is a little hazy, but I'm not sure that I felt the same busyness when my kids were younger, like in the baby and toddler years as I do now.
So if that is you, you have younger little ones who aren't school age yet.
You might be tempted to skip this week's episode. But I would encourage you to keep listening because it may not be May that's super busy for you yet and probably will be one day and this will be so helpful. You will be.
Two steps ahead of the game if you know what I'm gonna teach you today. Whether it's may or not, we all have those months that for our particular family, for our job, for our circumstances, just feel super packed. Maybe you are in finance, , you're a CPA, and so April is your December with tax day and getting everybody's returns filed.
Maybe you are in sales like I used to. To do in my corporate days, and so quarter close and fiscal year end, oh my gosh, that month was just jam packed with all of the deadlines and things I needed to do. Or maybe , I have several friends like this where their entire family celebrates a birthday within the span of maybe six weeks.
So whatever it is, the tips, the reminders, the practical advice that I am sharing today for Maycember.
Applies to those times as well. So just insert whatever that month or season is for you that feels just especially full of events and activities and deadlines and tasks that you need to do and use the same strategy there. All right? It doesn't have to be Maycember, if Maycember. Is it DecMaycemberr you?
If that makes sense. Alright. So though, if you are looking at turning the calendar over into May and you're already feeling a little bit, I don't know a certain way about that month, I wanna walk you through
five things that I want you to do. As you head into this month, that will help you feel a little more grounded, a little more capable, a little more confident in being able to make it to the finish line without hitting the pavement . All right, so to start, if you are approaching this month or this season with dread.
If you are feeling anxious about the busy schedule, if you are already feeling overwhelmed by all you have to do, and if you are thinking this is gonna suck, this is gonna suck. You are already climbing uphill in a time that is hard enough as it is, you don't need to make it harder. By telling yourself over and over again how much this sucks.
Yes, it will be busy. There will be a lot to do. You will be the orchestrator of more things than you want to orchestrate and. There will be fun. There will be good moments too. So before you open the calendar or look at your to-do list or think about all of the things that are coming up, I want you to think about what you're looking forward to.
I want you to offer up to yourself, to your brain as many moments. That will be good. As the ones that you are worried about being stressful, I want you to notice those, to think about those moments and to expand the influence of those good moments. So let me give you a couple of examples. I am visualizing right here today.
When I go to the nursery to buy my flowers for my pots and planting and plant them, that is a good memory. I cannot wait. I will take all of the other things that come with Maycember, because Maycember also means the season of putting colorful flowers on my patio. I am visualizing cheering on my kids for their last soccer game.
Yes, it's partly selfish because it means that the soccer season has come to an end and I get my weekends back again. But it's also about seeing them and being proud of them and the progress that they've made over the season from the beginning to the end and how hard they've played. I am also picturing the last day of school.
I mean, yes, it brings with it, a season of transition, which can sometimes be hard for me to go from all the structure of the school year into summer. I'll do a separate episode about that. But the last day of school is fun and there are a lot of activities that happen at my kids' school, and I am looking forward to participating where and when I can in those things.
I am also looking forward to eating lots of ice cream at our local dairy bar and Memorial Day, right? The splash pads here, open back up. The pool opens up, and there is something fun about that weekend that really kicks off Summer. So think about notice, visualize for yourself those good moments, all of the fun things that do happen in this month.
And if we want those, they come along with Maycember. So let's just bring those good things along for the ride.
Now, next we're gonna get into looking at the calendar. This is very straightforward. Whether you are planning your day, your week, your month, your Maycember, whatever season is really tricky and full for you. You have to have visibility into what is coming,
it's like any financial advice. You cannot make changes about your spending, your budgeting, your saving, your investing, whatever your goal is, if you're not looking at your money. The same is true for your calendar. We need to bring the monsters into broad daylight because they're not as scary once we shine a light on them.
All right, so what is on the calendar? What does it look like? My youngest brought home a piece of paper the other day with all of these activities listed for May, and I looked at it and started to freak out, oh my gosh, there's so much here. How are we gonna do this? How am I gonna keep track of it all?
What am I gonna be available for? I can't, I can't come to all of this. I can't volunteer. I can't send in donations for all of these things. So we put them on the calendar. And I made my decisions right then and there about what was feasible for our family to contribute or to help with, and what are the things that he's just gonna have to do and enjoy on his own.
Nobody's gonna be there, nobody's gonna send anything in with him for those activities, right? It helped to just look at it on the calendar. So for your upcoming weekends, what are those commitments? What are the performances? What are the things that you need to remember to do? So I'm gonna list off a few of the ones that either I experience in Maycember or I've heard about from my clients and my community and my listeners.
And so maybe this will spark something you'll remember, something that you weren't thinking about. But here is what I'm talking about when I say this month is full. We've got Mother's Day. We have teacher appreciation day or week, depending on how your school or daycare community does it. We've got end of year performances recitals.
We've got end of school year recognitions and celebrations. We have Springs Sporting events and tournaments. We have the last day of school. We've got testing probably, or exams leading up to the last day of school. There's often a spirit week thrown in there. There are last minute field trips as.
Teachers try to use up the rest of their budget graduations and graduation celebrations. There is prep for summer camp and vacation and what's gonna happen after that last day of school, there is Memorial Day. There is, , perhaps birthdays or anniversaries. I always joke, my husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary in May, and I wish I could go back to my pre-kid self and tell her to choose.
Any other month? Choose any other month. Why did I have to choose May? It's one more thing, but I know it's coming along with all of these other things, and the best thing I can do is put it all on the calendar and have that visibility. I don't wanna miss things. So if you haven't done that yet, maybe my list there just sparked something for you.
You need to remember, go get it on the calendar. Have that visibility. Do not bury your head in the sand. Next, you need to make a plan. All right, so what needs to be done for all of those events and activities? Not all of them, but many of them. There are action items associated with those. Maybe you need to get gifts or cards or gift cards.
I thought about this actually, thankfully a couple of weeks ago. I remembered that my son has this all City band concert coming up. Actually at the end of this week, he has to have black pants and a white button-up shirt. Two things that we do not own. So place the order, got the clothes, we're all set.
Those are the kinds of things that I want you to start thinking of. What are the tasks that are associated with these things that are on the calendar?
And how can you start anticipating what those things will be and get started now? There is no need to wait. Make the decision if you need to make the decision, place the order. If you need to place the order, help your future self out. Give her a boost, give her a leg up.
Help her by thinking ahead of what might she need. Now, I'll go through this list and. Put some things into categories just to, again, help me move through this massive volume of things I need to do in a more efficient way, so I will batch computer tasks. Maybe that looks like signing up to bring in supplies for those school things.
Maybe it's doing some research. Maybe it is ordering gifts or placing orders for whatever else. We need. I mean, I could give you so many examples. Just this week I've ordered cards, I've ordered those clothes, I ordered tap shoes. My daughter needs new tap shoes. She's outgrown them for her dance recital.
Just a general look at what are the things we might need. So batching those computer tasks. So when I sit down, I can cross off two, three or four things because I'm doing all my ordering at once or I'm doing all my research at once, batching errands. So when I go out on a Saturday or a Sunday or a Monday evening, whatever I need to do, I can say, all right, it makes sense for me to go to.
Trader Joe's and then the hardware store, and then I'm gonna stop by, the mall or whatever else I have to do. Batching those things will really help when you're talking about volume. The other thing, and I cannot stress this enough, when you're looking at all of these things that you need to do, how can you lower your expectations?
I think it helps to ask this question after you've put everything on the calendar and you've started creating this laundry list of things that you need to do, because it will help you see realistically that there is not time for everything, and there's certainly not time for the Pinterest perfect teacher appreciation gift or , the best Mother's Day present that you've ever given.
We have to trust that there will be time or years for those. Actually, maybe not. I think for teacher appreciation day, I will probably never give a Pinterest worthy gift, and I am okay with that. So lowering those expectations. Can it just be that you are showing appreciation that you are thinking of someone and given the volume of things that you need to do and what is on your plate right now?
It doesn't have to be perfect. I'll give you another personal example of mine. So a lot of years I will. Well, I've already lowered my expectations on Mother's Day cards from handmade to store-bought, but I will often go to the store to individually pick out a card that I think, , looks like that person.
I have a lot of mothers in my life that I purchase cards for, and I do love that. But this year I do not believe, given everything we have going on, that I have the capacity for that. So I decided this weekend. To buy a box, a boxed set of beautiful floral cards. They are not going to be unique to each mother that I'm going to be sending the card to.
And that's okay. I'm going to use that box set to send out cards to the mothers in my life and they are already on their way to me. I will get them addressed and written in plenty of time to get there by Mother's Day. And honestly, the relief that that brought me was so great. And now I'm gonna be able to actually.
Intentionally, thoughtfully, joyfully write those cards as opposed to rushing around trying to handpick cards and get them out the door in time. That to me is the trade off. So lower your expectations, batch things together, and anticipate those future needs, and again, have some visibility into what needs to happen this month.
So.
This next one, you may roll your eyes at me a little bit and that's okay, but whether it is December or some other busy season for you, I will say again and again until you hear me, that it is more important than ever to do the little things. And I know they're little and I know you can do them, but to do the little things that you need to do to make sure you have the energy for all that is on your plate.
I'm not talking scheduling a massage or like. Getting your nails done or whatever you do to de-stress and take care, quote unquote, take care of yourself. No, I'm literally talking about taking care of yourself. I want you to get sleep as much as you can, and I know it's hard and it's the first thing that we wanna let go of when things are busy.
I don't need you to get eight or nine or 10 hours of sleep, but you cannot be getting four or five a night during a month like this, so you need to sleep. You need to drink water. Get yourself a water bottle that you love, take it with you everywhere you go, you need to be hydrated. I want you to take your vitamin or your probiotic or whatever it is that you take.
I want you to at least throw an apple or an orange or some fresh item of food into your bag before you leave the house to go chauffeur kids around to all of their things. Grab that Mary Poppins tote bag and throw a bunch of things in there, and I know you're anticipating things for your kids.
Anticipate for yourself as well. Maybe you need to prep some snacks. Maybe you need to pack a bag that is like your Maycember bag that you can take with you when you're on the go. So you have what you need. Maybe you want to stock up on some freezer meals. Because you wanna eat well, you don't wanna just be doing drive-through or takeout or DoorDash all the time.
So what can you do to make it easy? Maybe you need to buy a stash of gift cards to keep for those last minute things that you might forget about. Those things are taking care of yourself too, , but more than anything, it is getting some sleep. Drinking some water. If you're having a really full day putting your bare feet in the grass, right?
We talked about the sunshine is coming out. It is warmer. It is nicer. Step outside. Put your bare feet in the grass for two minutes. Watch how it changes how you feel. Put on some good music. Again, I'm not talking about big things. I'm talking about everyday little things that you can do to take care of yourself and ensure that you have the energy to continue showing up.
For me. I also have a couple of really great books I'm excited to read. I'm gonna have my Kindle with me wherever I go because that to me relieves stress. And I do also have a couple of things to look forward to this month, despite it being , a very busy month, I do have time with a friend planned and time in my garden that makes me so happy.
So what are those things more important than ever to prioritize taking care of yourself in those little ways. And lastly, my last tip for you as you head into December, is to take some notes, do yourself a favor, and take some notes. You can go back and listen to episode 17 where I talk about the concept of building a second brain, taking notes for your future self.
Maycember is no exception. I keep a notebook in my OneNote notebook where I'd store all of these kinds of things. That is about Maycember. I know exactly what I gave for teachers last year for teacher appreciation week. I'm just gonna copy paste, do it all again this year. Do not reinvent the wheel each May.
So as you go through the month, or at the very least at the end of the month, write down what you do. Write down what you forgot about what snuck up on you and caught you off guard. What worked, what didn't work? What would you do differently? Have a starting point for next year. I track what I give my mom for Mother's Day, who I sent cards to.
Again, teacher appreciation, all of the things that I want to remember. What was fun? What did we miss out on? All of that is there so that you have a starting point. All right. There you have it. Those are your tips for surviving Maycember. Think about the good moments because they are there too. Look at your calendar.
Have that visibility. Create your plan. Anticipate all of those tasks that are going to go along with the events and activities of the month. Prioritize taking care of yourself in even the smallest of ways and take notes this month. Feels busy because it is busy. It feels busy because it is busy. There is nothing you are doing wrong.
We are all in it together. But I wanna remind you, you are so capable, it does not have to run you into the ground. If you follow these steps, I promise you, you'll make it through. You'll actually enjoy some of it, and it's just Maycember. It is just Maycember. We got this. All right. I hope this was helpful for you.
, if you enjoyed this episode, I would be so grateful if you would share this episode or this podcast with a friend. That is how I reach more working moms who are out here just trying to do our best, raising our families, having an impact in our career and enjoying our lives. So please share it. Leave a rating.
Leave a review. I am so grateful for you. And until the next episode, I will talk with you soon and take care.
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