Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can't accept your imperfections, that's their fault. -Dr. David M. Burns

From "Body for Life for Women" by Pamela Peeke, M.D.:

Most women have a chronic case of "helium hand." When asked to do anything (take on one more work project, agree to schlep carloads of kids to events, bake cookies for the PTA meeting), their hands drift upward, and before they can say "Did I do that?" they've gone and signed up for one more thing.

Look, no one can cram 25 hours' worth of life into 24. A smarter solution is to learn to cut through the unnecessary "filler" in your day-the stuff you think you have to do but really don't.

Don't believe anything in your schedule is expendable? Write out a typical day's to-do list. Include everything-board meetings, your PTA or volunteer obligations, walking the dog, banking, picking up the dry cleaning. After you complete your list, ask yourself: Is this a must-do activity or task? Is it important to me? Can I delegate it? Can I trash it? Does it interfere with my self-care?

Don't start pondering about how people might think about this or that. Just focus, and seek ways to find the time it will take to add some self-care balance into your life. Once you actually sit down and think about your obligations, you'll be surprised at how many you can delegate to someone else or simply jettison.