The best way to deal with chaos is to embrace it, there I gave you the secret right away!

I don’t know how life is for you these days but for me it’s busy. Between the 40 plus hours I spend at work, time with my kids, time with my spouse, ministry opportunities, family functions and all the random things that pop up from time to time! Thinking about it now makes me cringe a little!

In the midst of all of this it’s easy to get frustrated and want to go and hide in the corner, but there’s a lot better way to get through it all:

• Prepare things as much as possible ahead of time. A great way to reduce stress and stay ahead of chaos is to set things up ahead of time. If you know you have a big project coming up or your kids have a big project coming up, work on it as much as possible way before the deadline. This can even apply to your everyday life, iron any clothes the night before, make any lunches the night before. Have everything in one spot so that in morning you can grab and go, this also works great when you wake up late and can just smell chaos down the hall. Do as much prep work as you can.

• Stay as organized as humanly possible. I deliver bread and in the truck things can get out of hand pretty fast. In the past I would throw things all over the place telling myself it’s saving me time and I’ll clean it up later, I was completely wrong. One day after not being able to find some bagels, I told myself enough is enough, I’m getting organized! So from that day until today, I stack the trays in order and as I go throughout the morning I keep everything neat and clean. Doing things this way makes everything easier to find which in turn saves me time and I’m not accidentally stepping on bread. You may think that you can just put things wherever to get through a chaotic situation quicker, it won’t save you any time and it will add to your stress. Even as it seems everything is collapsing around you, stay organized and you can get through those chaotic situations. (more…)