Busy Busy Busy
I suck at saying “No.”
I don’t know if it really exists in my day-to-day vocabulary. I’m working on it, though. Mostly because I’ve said yes to so many things this year that I’ve started to forget things I never used to forget.
The other day, I looked back at a text message that I could have sworn I had responded to, and the poor recipient was still waiting for a reply. It was for something fairly important, and it was then that it hit me: I needed to change something. The way I’ve been doing things for years is obviously not working anymore.
Now, most of us have busy lives. It’s like a competition these days to be busier than anyone you know. Heaven forbid you take a day of rest! So my assumption is that a lot of people struggle with saying “No” to things.
Am I right?
If not, please let me know your secret. But I’m going to assume that it’s a difficult thing for many people.
The main goal of this post is not to help us say “No” more often, although that would be a good thing to start practicing.
This is going to [hopefully] help us prioritize and organize the things that we already have going on. A lot of us have so many events and things going on that are important and valid. So how do we know what to do with all of them when they conflict and things become chaotic?
I actually reached out to my Facebook friends for suggestions recently, so a lot of the credit should go to them. But I wanted to put them all in one place (plus some ideas that I found in my own research) so that it makes things easier on all of us.
- Get an organizational app. The first thing I implemented in my search of calming my chaos was a miracle app called “Google Keep.” It’s pretty popular, but I never took the time to learn it’s functions until recently. I always used my Notes app that comes with my phone, but Keep allows you to see all your notes on one single page, at a glance. It offers checklists, reminders, and best of all, different color options for your sticky notes.
- Make lists to text people back. It was suggested to me that I should create a list of people I need to respond to, immediately after reading the text message. This way I don’t have to rush in my reply, and I won’t forget to eventually get around to it.
- Get a paper planner. One thing that I actually am good at is keeping a planner with everything written down. I used to carry one in my purse, but lately I’ve just been making a note on Google Keep to help me remember to add it to my calendar when I get home.
- Be in tune to your health: physical, spiritual, emotional. This one is difficult. Many of us run ourselves to the ground, as if we’re searching for something that will fill us up. But if we’re unable to give one hundred percent, we need to reevaluate what’s going on. Is it a toxic person in your life that you keep allowing to take advantage of you? Is it the fact that you’re so busy you forget to even acknowledge that God exists? Is it that you aren’t allowing yourself time to cook healthier meals and instead always stop at fast food because you’re so tired? Recognize the unhealthy living styles that you’ve allowed, and set your mind on creating a healthier, more managed life.
I am still learning every single one of these, perfecting them in hopes of living my life to it’s full (and less chaotic) potential. I hope you are able to do the same with the help of some of these simple tips.