Work, family, and no part of the week that is yours

A short temper over something small. Sleep that does not restore. Being physically present with people while a list runs in the background. A weekend that is used for catching up rather than for rest.

From the outside it reads as competence, which is why so few people ask how you are doing.

Capability attracts more to carry. Each thing you take on is manageable in itself, and it is only the total that is not.

Meanwhile the parts of the week that gave something back tend to be the first ones cut, because they are the only ones nobody else is depending on.

We put the whole load on the table and look at it honestly, including the parts you have never counted as work.

Then we separate what is genuinely fixed from what has simply become habit, look at where saying no has felt impossible and why, and protect some part of the week before it disappears again. Where the need to hold everything goes back a long way, we look at that too.

Mostly listening. I ask what an ordinary week actually contains, how long it has been like this, and what you would do with an hour that belonged to you. You set the pace.

I cannot remove what is on your plate. What usually changes is how much of it you are carrying by yourself, and how much of your own week you have a say in.