The need to be "busy"

“I’m so busy, but I feel like I accomplish nothing every day”

“I start the day with great intentions, but only get a few things done each day”

“Why do I never have time for myself?”

These are all questions we’ve either heard friends ask or have asked ourselves at some point. There are so many things to be done and no time to do it all in, or is there?

The fact is, so many of us put pressure on ourselves to “be busy”. In our society, the busier you are, the more important you must be and who doesn’t want to be important? Therefore we have to constantly check our emails, immediately respond to each text and cross a dizzying amount of tasks off our to do lists each day.

However, do you really NEED to be that busy? Are you taking on more than you actually need to do? While many jobs these days do require one person do the job of 3 (or more!), most of us, if we were really honest with ourselves, might find we are doing things we really don’t have to do. Is your presence really needed in that meeting? Do you absolutely have to volunteer for another committee? Can your response to an email wait until after dinner with your family?

Prioritizing what is really important in your life is the first step. What is the most important aspect of your life? How would you choose to spend your time if you had no schedule restrictions? It is an important question and the answer is likely to be different for everyone.

Then take a step back and look at how much of your day is dedicated to that number one priority. If it is less than you want, how can you reallocate your time?

What can you do to make sure you dedicate the time you want to that priority each day? What is something you can do, and commit to, that helps you focus on your priority? It is important that whatever you decide to do is something easy to stick with, or you might allow other non-priorities to take over.

Finally, how can you hold yourself accountable to keeping your number one priority your number one focus?

Keeping your priorities focused on the really important things will help create balance in your life and will allow you to live a life aligned to what matters most to you. Instead of focusing on being busy, you can focus on being fulfilled.