Oh, so you’re busy huh? Reeeeeally busy. I hear you. I worry when I hear people put busy before life. I worry for me when I make excuses for not keeping up with my commitments because I’m busy. Busy is one of those vague ideas of something. It really doesn’t exist. Busy is a lie, basically. You can have a lot on. Absolutely. I’m sure there are plenty of you reading this right now saying Suger’s lost her MIND, of course, busy is a thing.
There’s that meme that goes around online saying that Beyonce has the same amount of hours in a day that you do… It’s a make the most of every minute, go get ’em, be inspired type thing. But time after time I see people write pffft, lend me your personal trainer, cook and nanny and I’d be a superstar too. Sorry to report, I think you missed the point.
Sure Beyoncé is a successful music mogul, mother, wife etc NOW but she wasn’t always. People who have aides and assistants etc. have usually put in the hard yards somewhere along the track using the same amount of hours in the day. Now I hate to sound like the ‘What’s YOUR Excuse’ Mom pitting women {and men} against each other. That’s not my style at all. I want you to run your race, do what makes you happy, using the time you have available to you NOW.
And to start that you need to stop glorifying busy. Making excuses. All that. If something is important to you, you need to make time. If that’s by saying no more often, by setting priorities and tackling the most important first, whatever it is. By responding with an immediate, no consideration, I’m busy you are shutting your mind off to working out any way to make it happen.
Instead, I set some guidelines for myself. I decide what my sticking points are and so should you.
I’m writing for 15 minutes a day.
I make it to the gym or pool 4 times a week.
I’ve committed to cooking more dinner in than we eat out.
I make myself available for those I love whenever I can, to the best of my ability.
And if what I really want to say is no, sorry I can’t make it work, I say that. No excuses.
So if you take one piece of advice from me this year {it’s a little late in the game for taking your FIRST piece, but I’m willing to let that SLIDE} then do this, decide what’s important to you and what you will not compromise on. Now go about organising your life so these things fit. Give up being busy as an excuse. Let it go and see just how much life you can cram in there.
And if all else fails, get rid of your TV. Those things are a time suck. 😉
Hi! I’m Melissa Walker Horn. Around here, they call me Suger. I’m the Chief Blogger and doer of all the things here at Suger Coat It. Blogging since 1901; I love a casual ootd, taking photos, and writing about things that irk or inspire me. I love wine and cheese, long days at the beach and spending time with my family. I make stuff for the internet over at Chalkboard Digital. You know, living the sweet life.
I often wonder what this “busy” thing is that nearly everyone I know talks about. I have an abundance of free time, seriously, in fact I have so much, that my free time has it’s own free time. My total commitments is work, which is 4 half days a week. The rest of my life – zero commitments. I used to think this was a good thing but I’m about to majorly shake things up next year and make commitments a thing, actually arrange things, make plans and it’s going to be bloody hard because I HATE plans. If I plan things, it gives my anxiety time to think about what it is I’ve planned, what it is that I HAVE to do, even if it’s something I want to do my anxiety kicks into overdrive, hence why I’m a spontaneous girl all the way.
I love this. I do think if you find yourself with too much time on your hands you need to commit to more. Not to work but to yourself, hobbies and things you enjoy doing. Fill that life up lady.
And I have something that works for me around anxiety and planning, feel free to take it or leave it, when making plans I remind myself that if I don’t go or need to pull out the world won’t end. It seems to take the pressure off when I have those moments of clear headedness.
And when I get anxious about going I remember that I gave my word, that I am going to try and keep it because that’s important to me. Sometimes the plans, the wanting to do what I said I would is THE ONLY thing that gets me out the door.
Good luck to you for 2014! My inbox is always open.
Oh my gosh… T.V… my days off are sucked into that thing D:
Must start being more productive, haha
Yeah, leave it off, find a radio station you like and bop along to that. Bloody tv. 😉
I had to laugh at your last line. Lately I noted that I was saying ´I´m busy´ a lot when it came to schedule some things that I´d like to get done by the end of the year. So one day I decided to make a rule about not watching TV before noon. I didn´t think I would make a big difference -after all, I spent my mornings working on my notebook as well as watching TV. The first day of this experiment, I finished all my work by 11.30 am. I had the rest of the day off. It was incredible.
Bloody tv. What a waste of time. Sometimes it’s just better to turn that stupid thing off. Your story more than proves THAT!