You’re always running around, fixing this, changing that, keeping everything together. But when does too busy become toxic? One thing I’ve learned from the Pandemic is that I don’t have to get everything done. The earth will continue spinning on its axis, and everything will be pretty much the same the next day. However, if you’re really stuck, here are a few ideas.
Delegate!
Get some of those to-do items off that list by hiring someone else to do them. Or get a friend to do them in exchange for a chocolate cake, which might be your favorite thing to bake. However you do it, get someone else to help. You don’t have to do everything, even if there’s a YouTube video that shows you how. You might like 10 Best Ways to Manage Time on Social Media.
Just say no
Is there anything you could refuse to do? Just take a big black marker and cross it off your list altogether? I’m betting there is. So if you’re doing something out of obligation, stop it! No more silly baby showers for people you barely know.
Procrastinate
Sometimes if you wait long enough to do something, someone else will take care of it for you. I’m thinking of my one friend who doesn’t take in her recycling bins and her neighbors do it for her. She’s probably not doing it on purpose, but any way, that’s how it is. By the way, if you’re trying to avoid something, you might like Seven Myths about Procrastination. And also: managed delay does sound a lot cooler than procrastination, doesn’t it?
Be Lazy
This might sound counter-intuitive, but sometimes you just need to be lazy. Stay in bed a little longer, spend more time dawdling, and use your cat as a mentor. What does your cat do when there’s too much going on? He takes a nap! And what does your cat do to recover from the stress of a nap? Takes another nap! You get the idea.
Stop saying you’re too busy
You know what? You’re not too busy. We’ve all been glorifying the Cult of Busy(tm) to the point where it’s become a mantra we all say. You’ve got time to watch 10 million episodes of Grey’s Anatomy! Oh, wait. That’s me. Anyway, none of us are too busy. We just choose to focus on that. As Kimberly Roush says in Are You Too Busy to Be Less Busy? on Forbes “Busy has become a way of life.”
Busy Much?
If you love saying you’re too busy, maybe practice saying you’re not busy. Watch the strange looks your friends give you. And listen to what they say. Perhaps their next question will be Are you retired? One day you’ll be able to say yes!
Carol, when I worked with my buddy, Peek on the Seattle Water Dept. annual reports, it was crazy. We described it as having our #HairOnFire. Procrastination can also be our friend. We enjoy “other distractions” when we should be concentrating on our to-dos, and the next thing we know, adrenaline and deadline pressure kicks in and BOOM. We get it done and what a great feeling when we feel like we are too busy~
Hi Terri,
Gosh, I was just thinking about you, and here is a comment that I somehow missed. I think I’m not getting notifications!!!
Some people are really motivated by tight deadlines, but I’m not one of them. Those deadlines make us think faster sometimes, and that’s a good thing, right? But it’s a different kind of writing than letting something stew and then rewriting it.
Thank you for all your support. I’m always learning things from you!
Sincerely,
Carol