Beware of Double-Booking

About 5 years ago I stumbled across a 3 word sentence. Beware of double-booking. Maybe that's 4 words? I'm not totally sure. Either way, I was intrigued and curious as to what that meant exactly. Of course, I knew what it meant typically. You know, the obvious when 1 person schedules two or more things at the same time. We've all been guilty of that a time or two I think. You see though, I read this in a book for women and it was in reference to our children. Let me tell you I was paying attention.

I have learned double-booking can also define us when we try to focus on our children AND other people at the same time. A few examples... you are on the phone and your kids are about to walk through the door from school. Instead of closing your phone conversation to greet the children home, you keep yourself focused on the phone call and the person on the other line. Not that this person at the end of the phone line is not important, but your precious cargo has just arrived from being gone 8 hours or more and your greeting back home (or lack of) speaks volumes to them. Another example... you take your kids to the play park and instead of engaging in play time with them you chime in on the mommy conversation going on on the side-line. Chatting with other mom's isn't bad, don't get me wrong. But, a young child begging for his/her mom to join them at the slides or swings and being ignored is telling them you'd rather hang with your mom friends then them. This might be true even (sometimes I REALLY just need to talk with another adult!), but you came to the park to play... let our actions show our intentions.

Double-booking can cause us to lose our focus. Matthew 6:24 " No man can serve two masters". This is true in so many ways. I surely think there is a balance of focusing on our children, yet being sure they know they are not THE center of our world. The same goes for our husbands, if you have one. Double-booking can make a person feel less valued, not as important, and at the bottom or mid way down our priority list. We have to be really intentional about not double-booking... some simple helpful examples I've found are...

-use nap times or quiet times to return phone calls, check emails, text, and personal work
- meet any person that comes to your house at the door with a smile and welcome (especially the people that live there!!)
- be aware of the activity of choice and who/how you are spending it
- if you have dinner plans with adults and your children, lower your expectations for how much chatting you'll get in with just the adults!
- don't talk on the phone when driving... perfect time to engage in conversation with your loved ones strapped down and no option but to talk back to you :)

I'm not tyring to make you feel bad here. Just trying to make you aware. As women we try to juggle A LOT at once. Sometimes we are efficient. Sometimes we don't recognize the silent messages being sent to the people we love the most. Sometimes double-booking is simply doing too much at once, causing us to stress out and not handle our first jobs of caring for those we are responsible for right now. Try to be intentional of staying focused with what is present with you right now. Try to be intentional of not double-booking. I daily have to work at this and remind myself of my focus in life right now!

Where else do you see it possible to easily "double-book" yourself? Share your thoughts... I'd love to hear how you keep your focus through-out the day. Happy Scheduling to you!