# 39 How many courses can you eat at once?

Every so often we all need time out. Whether it's that twice yearly week in the sun, or a midlife crisis involving 3 weeks on a bender every night. It's all about adjustment, mindset and knowing yourself.

I have a standard format. I work work work, then crash, then I generally go on a music and alcohol induced bender and I'm fine again. But people sometimes think I'm losing the plot. It's all about knowing how you tick.

One at a time please!

I know what my pattern is so I don't panic when I go off the rails because I know it is part of my coping strategy and I'll soon be back to my default setting. I've been telling one or two friends about it and I've had some interesting perspectives on similar coping strategies from friends who have a whole different set of issues to mine.

Compartmentalisation is one of my key words for sorting things out though. The overall picture can be scary, dividing it up turns it into an evening in a restaurant. I'll explain...

If every course came at once you wouldn't know where to start, you'd be jumping from plate to plate. But when the courses are brought to you one at a time you can focus and you only have one thing to deal with at a time. Typically, multiple courses will turn up at once and some of them I won't want, but I still have to eat them because that's life. And that's when the coping strategy sometimes needs to be implemented.

Not everyone needs it of course. But sometimes coming up for air when your work schedule is hectic and it crashes headlong into a personal life you didn't know you had can prove to be quite a juggling act.