Everyone is Too Busy

Being busy is the new humblebrag. It starts at work, but it also extends to family and personal activities. People that categorize themselves as busy think that doing so makes them in-demand or praiseworthy. They need to re-evaluate.

There is pressure at work, home, school, events, volunteer opportunities, friends, family – it all drives us a bit crazy. As you read that sentence and saw something in your own life for each of them, you probably thought, “How am I going to fit all of this in?” That is the sign that you are too busy.

At different times in our lives, there are different priorities. Some stay and some go. However, from time to time, it is very important to evaluate your schedule to prevent you from becoming too busy.

Stop

Over-committing is the quickest way to get yourself off-course from achieving what you care most about right now. Don’t put anything else on your to-do list. Take a step back from everything – you need to gain clarity. Do what you absolutely must for a week and cut everything else out.

Evaluate

After you have slowed down and caught your breath, you are ready to evaluate your current state. Time management is a zero-sum game. The only way that you can fix a broken schedule is by making sense of where you currently stand. Write a list of where and how you are spending your time. Then, write down everything that is on your mind, your schedule and weighing you down.

Prioritize

Now it is time for a fresh start. What is the most important task for each day to get closer to your goals? What do you value most? In essence, ask “why” you do each thing instead of “what.” Using the list that you just made above, circle or underline five items that are the most important and the five activities that contributed the least to your objectives.

Go

Once you know what matters most, you can get going again with less weigh on your shoulders. Start each day with confidence involving what you will accomplish and why. Remove events that don’t align with your high-level goals. Only add obligations that have a clear connection to what is most important.

There is no need to humblebrag about how busy you are. Find the joy in each day and appreciate your life.

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