Sometimes it’s hard to know when enough is enough. It feels like you should keep going because you have so much to do and not enough hours in the day. We tend to not think about the fact that sometimes less is more and if we can focus the majority of our efforts on five of our “to-do’s” instead of flying through ten, we might be more satisfied with the results. “Enough is enough,” is generally something you hear when someone is fed up or exasperated or both, but sometimes it can be a good thing. Sometimes you have done enough for that day and there is nothing else left to do.

I’m a person who lives by my planner, my to-do lists and post-it notes, but it’s refreshing to take a break from that every once in a while. As we know, when it rains it pours and generally when a lot of things are getting thrown at me and I feel completely overwhelmed is when I decided to check out from the total structure of my life that just might not be working for me at that moment. Normally, I know it’s the opposite for most people and when they feel like they’re losing control they try their hardest to regain it by implementing lists, their Google cal, etc., but I start to actually feel betrayed by that structure I always dedicate myself to (I know that sound dramatic, but you people don’t know how much time and energy I put into my planning).

Last week it seemed like nothing could go right for me. Things were flying at me left and right and I felt like I was losing control in every aspect of my life, so instead of fighting against it I decided to embrace it. On the way home on Friday I had a call with my best friend and I said simply “that’s enough toadying for today.” Nothing had ever more perfectly summed up my feelings for a moment and I decided I was making the right decision to just accept things weren’t going right and start fresh the next week. I took it easy all weekend. Did things that make me happy; cleaned my house, practiced yoga, walked my dog and cooked something new. By the time I approached the next week, I feel totally revived and like nothing could stop me.

The moral of the story is: know your limits. Don’t try to overwork or over impress yourself at the risk of running yourself dry. Know when to say “enough is enough” and give yourself grace in the moments you’d give it to others.