Have you ever accidentally over scheduled yourself and then not know what to do? This happened to me last month with Hailey's swim class. 

Last month, I was contacted by Hailey and Tyler's swim program stating that not enough students were enrolled in Hailey's Monday class for the month of June. Either I would have to pay for a private lesson or switch her to a different class.  I elected to switch her class.  

I found a class on Sundays at 12:30 and thought it was a great solution. We generally attend a 10am service, so we would have plenty of time to get her to class. Also, since I don't generally schedule things on Sundays, I thought we would be good for the month.

What I hadn't taken into consideration was that June is the end of the school year. On one Sunday was Tyler's dance recital at 12:30 and another Sunday we had scheduled a weekend away. I had accepted the new case based on our general Sunday schedule without taking into account that June had some atypical events for us.  

Since we didn't want Hails to miss 2 of the 4 classes that month, we took action. Here's what we did to resolve our over-schedule. You can apply these ideas in the event that you have an accidental over-schedule. 

1. See If It Is Possible to Schedule a Different Time

For the weekend of Tyler's recital, we asked the swim program would allow Hailey to attend one of the morning classes. They happened to have an opening in the 9:30 am class. Since my husband had already taken the day off to attend the recital, we were able to divide and conquer.

He took Hails to swim in the morning while I got T ready for the recital. By the time they got back from swim T and I were all ready to go. Hails got to get her swim on and we all got to enjoy T's fabulous performances!

2. Accept Responsibility and Apologize

Sometimes it's not possible to just change the time of a meeting or event. During our weekend away, we couldn't just attend a different class on the same day. In that case, we explained to the teacher that we had neglected to consider our weekend away when we scheduled the class. We apologized for the oversight and accepted responsibility. 

When you accept responsibility and are upfront about your mistakes, often times people are willing to help. The teacher stated that we would be able to make up the class over the summer even though technically the summer is a separate session.  

This is not always the outcome. People are not always able to accommodate our mistakes. Either way, it's still important to be upfront and honest in these types of situations. 

3. Can Someone Take Your Place?

We incorporated this idea when resolving the conflict between Hailey's class and Tyler's recital. Instead of me taking Hailey to swim, my husband did it so that I could prep myself and Tyler for the recital. 

Some meetings require us specifically to be there. Others just need someone in general. If the one of the conflicting events doesn't necessarily require that you attend, see if someone else can take your place. 

Hailey needed an adult for class, but it didn't have to be me. My husband stepped in and we resolved the conflict. 

When you double book yourself, you don't have to immediately go into panic mode. One of these three strategies will likely be able to resolve the issue. In the end, we are all busy and we need to give ourselves a little grace when things like this happen because, well, they happen to everyone. 

Cheers,

Emily

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