Do you ever just have one of those days/weeks/whatever?

I don't know what's been going on today, but I feel off and I feel like everyone else around me is a little off, too.

But I'm the main one.

It's been building for a while. Last month I announced that after November 30th, I wouldn't be taking on any new business until after the first of the year. I'm thinking about revising that date to...well...now (except for the proposals that are already in process).

I don't know. I feel like lately everything has been moving so fast, personally and professionally, that I need to slow down. Yesterday I was just feeling that. Today I got proof.

And I know I'm not the only one. My client, Lucila Williams, happened to write a blog at the EXACT SAME TIME I was thinking about slowing down. I'd say we share the same brain, but hers is much smarter and more organized. However, what we were feeling was so similar.

There's just so much to do...it's time to slow down in one area so that I can build in another.

I have a book that's currently in 15 different files on my computer. If we were living back in typewriter times, that's the equivalent to it being scattered all over my floor in no particular order. There's work to be done for current clients, ideas to implement with the consultants I'm bringing on, a child I cry with every night because we can't figure out those damn college applications, and a neglected dog who keeps getting bullied by a cat.

I'm tired.

But worse than that I'm not doing what I should be doing. I'm just too scattered and moving too fast. It took a call today from a gracious client who has witnessed me making small mistakes on almost every email task she's sent me this week to give me a true wake-up call.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "This isn't like you."

No, dammit, it isn't like me! And it's not okay. I feel like I'm scrambling in so many different areas of my life that it's like I'm not making headway anywhere. I have so many visions for the direction of my business, my ideal work/life balance, the goal of employing more women...but I'm not making progress because I'm trying to do it all at once.

So, today I'm going to practice the fine art of forgiveness, remind myself that we're all human, and make a better plan for the next couple of months that will allow me to just sit with what I have in one area so that I can grow in another - rather than trying expand every facet of my life.

And LinkedIn made me feel a lot better, as I was closing up shop for the day, when I tried to create some advertising for a client and found this on their business page: