There are times when you’re juggling work and parenthood and more balls end up on the floor than in the air. When that happens to me (like it did today), these are a few of the things I do to try to pick those balls up and keep juggling:

1.) Re-do your to-do list. I write one out every morning as soon as I get to work, and today I looked at it and noticed that I’d written things like “clean the blue bathroom” and “make lasagna” and “put winter coats away” — things that didn’t need to get done immediately (and things that I couldn’t possibly do from work, anyhow). So I threw that list away and started over, this time writing down only the things I absolutely had to get done before I went home. The second list was much shorter, which made me feel much better. And I actually got most of it done.

2.) Cut yourself a little slack. I don’t know about you, but I don’t own a cape. (I did, once, during an brief fling with the SCA many years ago, but we won’t go there.) Since I don’t own a cape, I can’t be Super Woman. There will be times when I can’t do it all, and today was one of them.

3.) Take a break. It was gorgeous in Boston today, and I went for a walk. In the middle of the day. Even though we were a person short and work was piling up and I had a stack of stories to edit. It took just 15 minutes, but when I came back I felt recharged. Yay, sunlight!

4.) Give yourself a treat — now. The usual advice — motivate yourself by setting a goal and getting a reward when you reach it — doesn’t work for me. I find myself thinking, “Well, I’m not done yet, and that cheesecake is just sitting there, taunting me.” So, have some of the treat. A little smidge. Even if you think you don’t deserve it. Because, really, you do.

5.) Draw the circle. Someone once told me that the best way to draw a circle is to start by drawing a circle. Sometimes, the only way to get it everything done is to start at one end and keep going.