It's that time of the year ....  School has begun, summer is over, kids' activities are in high gear,  your job is booming and demanding, you go to bed exhausted and get up tired and the holiday season is just starting.    When are you finding time for yourself and your relationship?

It's easy to get sucked into the vortex of busy and to put your relationships (partner, kids, friends, extended family) on the back burner.  A quick kiss or text, however, is not a substitute for eye-to-eye, voice-to-voice contact.  When you're busy, you slip from emotional mode to operational mode.


Emotional mode is when you take the time, busy or not, to connect with those who are important to you, using emotional language and talking about feelings.  It's the place you're in when you take the time to cuddle with your sweetie, hang out and talk with your kids, call your mom or your siblings just to chat, or have lunch with your bestie.  It's the mode in which you best communicate your feelings and in which you restore your emotional energy.  


Operational mode is when you are the field general, making things happen, getting everyone where they need to be on time, fed and with the right equipment.  It's when you are the least connected and spending your bank of emotional energy just to maintain your last shreds of sanity.  And you're not making any deposits so you get irritable and exhausted more easily.


It doesn't take much to begin building your emotional energy.  Instead of turning on the DVD in the car, use that drive time to talk to your kids about their lives - even if they start acting like you've grown another head the first time you try.  Instead of hitting the snooze, take that ten minutes to cuddle with your partner in the morning.  Instead of hanging around the break room at work, staring at the wall, call your mom or dad or sister or brother.   Get your kids involved in folding laundry and use the time to talk about family stuff.


Only you can restore your emotional energy and busy should include time to do just that.  I promise you'll feel better for it!