Make Your Lunch The Night Before and Other Tips to Make Your Life Less Stressful

I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a teacher. I am a writer. I’m a lover of reading, running, scrapbooking, and crossword puzzles.

Sometimes life can get pretty hectic. With work, extracurricular activities, chores, errands, the kids, and all of the shows on Netflix our schedules can get pretty full, and often we find ourselves running from one thing to the next. It’s no wonder, then, that our stress levels can shoot through the roof, making us feel as if we are fighting to stay above water. Therefore, I would like to provide you all with a few simple tips in order to prevent you from self-sabotaging and staying a step ahead when times get crazy.

1. Make Lunch the Night Before

This. is. huge. Every night before work after I put my son to bed my lunchbox stares me dead in the eyes and taunts me. My body is tired. My brain is tired. I want to sleep. I cannot continue. Making my lunch is unfathomable. I simply will not and cannot do it. This scenario is literature’s classic Self vs. Self Conflict and these thoughts play out in my mind all the time. It takes an act of heroism from the protagonist to swoop in, fend off the enemy, and convince my hands to commence gathering the supplies from the refrigerator. Then with a feat rivaling the 1980 Miracle on Ice game, I make my lunch. And the next morning when I’m rushing to get out the door, I look at my packed lunchbox, smile and whisper, “You devil, you,” and grab…