The world will go on if you don’t show up at work. you don’t post to your blog tomorrow. you cancel the meeting. you stay in bed all day. you don’t sign the contract. you don’t answer the phone. you don’t check your email. you leave town. ~Danielle LaPorte

{Image: When keeping calm and carrying on isn’t an option by tricsr4kids}

Yesterday I had a shocker of a day.

Incessant noise from the chap tuning the piano.  Internet pages not loading or taking for.ever.  Code not working.  A necklace design not coming together.  And it was cold – bone chilling cold.

You see, Wednesday’s are my day off.  The day I get to play mid-week catch up, because the rest of my week days are chockers*.  And when things don’t go my way, I get frustrated as hell.

Frustrated enough to use bad language in front of the piano-tuning-man.  Frustrated enough that I want to put a hammer through my computer.  Frustrated enough to throw my hands up and say “I’m not going to work, to post,  to answer the phone or check email.  I’m going to stay on the couch and not give a shit about any of it not getting done.”

Then the guilt sets in.  Because I’ve set expectations of myself.

They are:
1. Post on the blog daily.
2. Cross everything off the to-do list.
3. Pin. Stumble. Read other blog posts. Flickr. Buffer.  List new items to the shops.
4. Take photos.
5. Keep the house tidy.  Cook nutritious meals for my family.  Keep the washing up to date.
6. Work a 4-day a week job with  mentally-, behaviourally- and academically- challenged kids.
7. Stay sane while doing all of the above.

And then something as simple as the internet not working properly puts me in a spin.

Why do we (working mothers, stay-at-home mothers, childless women, independent biz owners and just women in general) place such high expectations on ourselves?

{Help me find answers… Click here to tweet the question above}

The pressure to… Cross off the to-do list.  Cook.  Clean.  Create.  Post.  List.  Blog.  Comment.  Achieve.  Be perfect…

Why don’t we give ourselves a break more often?

Spend the day on the couch with a good book instead of in front of the internet.  Stay in bed all day.  Leave the computer off.  And unplug the phone.

Believe that the world will go on.  And just relax.

Join me?

*chockers: full up, no more room.