Starting this weekend, I have plans every single weekend until Mid-October. October! That’s ridiculous. Three of those weekends we’ll be out of town, 2 weekends include weddings, 1 weekend includes my 10-year high school reunion (AHH!), and the rest are just random events.
G and I are both pretty social, but he is MUCH more social than I and he has several circles of friends that we need to make time for. That’s on top of our frequent family gatherings and the occasional gatherings with my groups of friends.
Five years ago, I would have loved a social schedule like this. These days? Not so much. I love seeing everyone, but I also really cherish my down time. G does as well. But we also have other things going on that we need to make time for, too. G is a campaign manager for a local political campaign and I have my freelancing responsibilities to attend to.
I find that when we don’t get in our down time, we have to start turning people down when they invite us to events. Most people are okay with that, but some people … aren’t.
In the coming weeks, I’ll have to find some balance in my calendar to fit in my normal hobbies and interests (working out, r.e.l.a.x.i.n.g.) in between all of these social events.
How do you balance your life when your social calendar is out of control?
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! Amber, I don’t know how you keep up with all this work and being social at the same time. I stopped being social about a year ago, now I just enjoy a lot of working out and relaxing, and working of course. Because being social takes a lot of energy away, and I feel like I need to preserve all of my energy. I am lucky that my friends and family understand me pretty well, so I don’t really have to explain why I never come out.
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I have definitely gone through super-social periods like this. It’s fun to have lots of events to look forward to, but it can be difficult because there is never free time to take care of things like errands/household tasks/etc. or just to consciously *relax*. I also feel slightly silly when friends ask me to hang out and I have to say, “Well, what does your calendar look like two months from now?” If I do have to turn friends down because my calendar is too busy, then I try to say, “Let’s find another time when we can get together” and people respond well to that. It also helps to schedule more group activities; even though you don’t get to spend as much quality time with everyone, at least you are seeing them.
Late summer/early fall seems to be a particularly busy time of the year, and then we are getting into the holiday season… Don’t you feel like time goes by faster and faster the older one gets?
Yep! I feel like time is flying by!
Hi Amber, I completely understand about being over-booked, especially during the summer months! Josh and I always try to plan one weekend a month where we don’t have anything planned, this way we can catch up on cleaning and other errands and also spend some time just the two of us. I know that an entire weekend is hard to put aside so during really busy months I’ll make a week night into a weekend LOL Essentially we’ll have something fun for dinner, usually grill, and watch a movie and go for a long walk – no laptops allowed, just the two of us relaxing. Well good luck with all your plans and I hope you have a great August!!
That is awesome! Down time is essential!
That is how our weekends have looked this summer. We’ve had stuff going on every weekend since the beginning of June and it won’t wind down until the 2nd weekend of September. I would usually have a meltdown being so busy but I’ve been able to keep my sanity by carving out 2-3 hours on the weekends when I can read a book and take a nap. I’m also reminding myself of the light at the end of the tunnel in September, when I will be laying on the couch and doing nothing else for 2 days straight. It helps knowing that this won’t go on forever (and enables me to enjoy all the fun I’m having, even if it is exhausting!)
Good luck to both of us til the rest of the summer!
I know exactly what you mean about the down time. From the beginning of may to mid october, I’ll have 3 weekends not packed full of things to do. It was exciting at first, but now that I’m into august, it’s really starting to wear on me. The best thing that I do to keep in balance is to work my butt off during the week and try to get everything that I normally do on the weekend done during the week. It doesnt always work, but it definitely helps. At some point though, I just realize that someone who invites me somewhere is going to get a “sorry, I cant that weekend, because if I do, i’ll go insane”.
Two amazing quotes from your comment:
“Balance my butt off” < — love it!
“Sorry I can’t do that or I’ll go insane” lol! Sadly, I think that is what happens to people who want to constantly make plans. They start to lose touch with what other people are doing.
Great comment, Jeff.
I definitely know what you mean. Summers are so busy and I seem to have hit the age when everyone decides to get married, all in the summer of course, and all over the country. I try to front-load my schedule at work fo I can take a half-day on Friday to run errands. I’m lucky enough to have a job where I can do that. I also block out time for myself, just like I was blocking out time for social things, then I fill the time with whatever I need to feel rejuvenated, relaxed, and ready to go to that next BBQ.
Front loading your schedule is a genius idea! Will have to try that…