I love seeing my family, but afterwards I’m exhausted
At this festive time, where you are going to be spending some time with extended family, perhaps you recognise this feeling? Your social batteries get used up. I know my friends with autism, ADHD, will. And the introverts.
And all of you who’ve been working hard this year and need a break.
And those of you who are going to see relatives that you avoid most of the year.
And for all those who end up doing most of the organising and cooking.
And… it’s starting to sound like that “what have the Romans ever done for us?” sketch.
While we may love this time of year, and love spending time with our family and friends, it’s still tiring.
I recharge through alone time. The best kind is when everyone else is out of the house, even the neighbours are out, and I can only hear the wind, the birds, and my cats. Such recharging bliss.
75% of my household needs alone time to recharge.
So over the last couple of months, we’ve carefully selected things we want to do during our collective time off.
We’ve been working like puzzlers, slotting those activities in while leaving empty space around each activity.
Unfortunately, I forgot about the number of Christmas period birthdays we have in our family. And cool opportunities popped up. So now the spaces in-between socialising seem tiny.
And tiny spaces between socialising freak me out a little.
So my fellow “alone-timers” and I need to protect those empty spaces.
We can’t have any more scope creep happening, or one of us will frazzle, short a fuse, and probably create a cascade effect to rival the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Is this just me? Just my household?
Perhaps this is a niche problem, but I think most of you will relate in some way.
We are exhausted afterwards, but we love spending time with our families.
So, how do you take care of yourself at this time of year?
I know I need to make a list. Just a small one. A small list of things I just absolutely love to do alone.
So I don’t have to come up with ideas when I’m frazzled. I can just pick from the list.
Whatever works for you, do it, guilt free.
This is part of my Thought Piece Series, where I explore topics related to leadership and provide both answers and questions. My intention is to start meaningful conversations that help us move forward. Want to connect? Click here.