I got a lot of paper the past few weeks. School volunteer opportunities, after school activities the kids can participate in, church volunteer and activity opportunities, new exercise classes, the fall community recreation brochure, classes at the hospital – I can feel the anxiety rising just thinking about them all.

So how do you choose?

First of all, don’t just say yes to things you have said yes to in the past. List out all the activities you are thinking about. Now do an evaluation.

Evaluate each activity

1. Does this activity drain my energy or give me more energy?

2. Does this activity relate to current goals or priorities?

3. Is this something I enjoy or am passionate about?

4. Do I have time to do a good job with this?

5. Can I afford to do this?

6. Am I only thinking of doing this out of guilt?

Stay involved, but do less

If you find you just don’t have time to do all the activities you wanted, you can still stay involved.

You can go to PTA meetings without being the President.

You can buddy up with someone so you don’t have to do all the work. I team teach Sunday School so I only teach twice a month instead of every week.

Go to scrapbooking nights or book clubs every other month, instead of every month.

Take classes and volunteer with friends so you can spend time with them.

How about the kids?

For the kids, decide with them what activties best suit their personality, temperament , and skill. Each child is different. Decide ahead of time how many activities they can be in. We don’t want them to experience burn out before they even hit 20.

With complicated sport schedules and practices, it is best to do one sport at a time. They want to be a good team player and can’t if they have to miss things because of the other sport.

Don’t let this be another overwhelming season. Consciously choose what activities will be in your family’s lives.