Is Being busy keeping you from living your best life?

You know how you feel when you find yourself standing in the kitchen, staring at piles of dishes and a messy countertop?

The feeling of mild panic that rises up when you wonder how in the world you're going to get everything cleaned up AND make it to your meeting on time before returning the three phone calls you’ve been dreading and running the GAZILLION errands you need to get done. 

Busy, busy, busy!

It seems to me that busyness has become an epidemic.

We start out with the best intentions.

Maybe we agree to take on a new project at work and then add a couple of extra volunteer commitments to our schedule. Next thing you know we’ve agreed to host a baby shower and have taken it upon ourself to plan a family trip.

Busy!

I know that many of the obligations that make up our days are non-negotiable. We have jobs to work, bills to pay, kids to raise, and activities to coordinate. And this is when things are going well! All it takes is something unexpected to knock us down. Getting sick, a car breaking down, or a home repair are very real scenarios that often pop up at the most inconvenient times. 

This is all the more reason to think about areas of our lives where we can cut back on commitments in order to allow for more space and breathing room. There are plenty of things we commit to that we have more agency over than we realize.

Our desire to "do it all" starts with the best intentions but often ends with us feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted.

Saying yes to requests and opportunities is often the entry point for a calendar bursting with commitments and activities without any downtime at all. But we're so afraid of missing out and being overlooked that we don't see how we're adding unrealistic expectations and unnecessary stress to our lives.

I refer to this as The Busyness Trap

Fear-of-Missing-Out and You-Only-Live-Once pressure us into thinking that if our schedules aren't packed then there's no way we can actually be living our best life.

FOMO hits hard and YOLO feels super high stakes!

And while we say we want to enjoy leisure time and prioritize rest and relaxation, I look around me and notice just how busy we all appear to be.

Many of us are stuck in a vicious cycle of busyness.

It's SO easy to fall into the busyness trap. To respond to the question, "How've you been?" with a sigh and an exasperated response of "Busy!"

Being productive and efficient convinces us that we’re important and worthy.

But at what cost?

Is being busy keeping you from living your best life?

Take a few minutes and ask yourself the following questions:

1. What is your definition of your best life?

We often talk about our “best lives” without taking the time to actually define what this means for us. Your best life might look very different from mine. It’s important to consider what is important to you, not to the other people around you.

2. What obstacles are currently keeping you from living your best life?

How many of these obstacles are mandatory commitments? How many are self-imposed? For those that are mandatory, where can you find support to ease any overwhelm you currently feel? For those that are self-imposed, what are you willing to release in order to cut back on busyness?

3. How would you feel if you intentionally created a little more space in your life?

Does the thought of having more space in your life create panic related to FOMO or YOLO? Again, be honest with yourself! How would viewing more space as an opportunity for self-care and creativity change the way you think about being less busy?

4. How would you feel if you didn’t have to rush from task to task to task?

Consider how moving with more focus and intention might positively impact your overall health and well-being. 

5. What might your life look like if you dared to prioritize rest and relaxation?

Back to health and well-being again, how would rest and relaxation allow you to reflect on whether or not you’re living your best life and make adjustments as needed?

These questions are so important in identifying whether being busy is keeping you from living your best life. 

Believe me, I know there are rarely any quick and painless solutions or easy fixes. But slowing down a bit provides space for reflection which is key to figuring out if being busy is keeping you from living your best life.

I invite you to reflect on these questions and the current pace of your life. Consider if there are areas where you can slow down and ways you can be less busy.

Need support as you try to get a handle on the busyness in your life? Let’s connect for a complimentary 20-minute consultation and see if coaching is right for you. There’s never any pressure or obligation, just a great way for us to connect!

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