Take Your Time Even if There is Urgency

It seems everyone is busy. More than ever before, I come across people who are buried in work. They are so busy they can’t do basic things.

They can’t take care of themselves. No time for exercise, or rest, or budgeting, or meditation. They can’t find a minute to prep for the lunch and must rely on the quickest option in the moment, the drive thru.

Everyone experiences busy periods. For most of us, those times come and go. But many hang on to those and extend them for years.

Because they are too busy, their health and wellbeing degrade. They don’t connect this to their attachment to staying busy, feeling forced into this lifestyle. They don’t realize it is a choice.

If we spend time refreshing our mental state, we will reap the benefits. If we ignore our personal needs and just keep pushing, we will experience the burnout that is so common.

You must realize that this is a choice. We all choose to accept this or not. Yet when people provide excuses for not accomplishing something because they are too busy, they insinuate that the amount of work was thrust upon them. They had no options.

This creates a vicious cycle. They don’t improve or take care of the little things that matter. Those start to have consequences. Those consequences add to the workload and dissatisfaction with life.

This builds up over time. It makes it less likely that they will take the time to properly prioritize in the future.

I am not saying that it is easy. In fact, it often takes enormous effort to take control of your life and accept the negative aspects as your own.

But the result is a life where you understand that you are in control. You don’t gain control. You realize you had it all along but gave it away.

It is easier to keep blaming your workload. It is easy to become the victim of the modern-day expectation of work above everything else. Some wear it with pride. They profess to everyone how busy they are, how much time they spend working.

The ironic thing is that often I find these individuals being incredibly inefficient. They take 4 hours to do a 30-minute task. They can’t stay focused and close out the items on their to do list. It takes them much longer than most to get things done.

Day after day they are getting less done but spending enormous amounts of time and energy staying busy.

Break free from the busy mindset. Find ways to better prioritize what you need to complete. Understand what sucks up your time. Know when you need to step away and take a break to continue working efficiently.

Nobody is going to stop these people from working themselves to the bone. In fact, we likely view them as slow, ineffective workers who created their dilemma all alone.

Efficiency and prioritization are more important than the long hours. Find ways to improve how you work and you will see the time you work reduced. In those extreme situations where they won’t subside, make larger lifestyle changes, or accept them as they are.

Because whatever you are experiencing, you have control. You have choice. The options are open to you, but you need to understand these are often between a bunch of bad options, so you need to learn how to choose the path forward when it isn’t perfect.

You can learn to own this imperfect path and the choices you make. You accept the consequences of your choices.

You break free from the victim mindset and push towards the life you truly want and the workload you accept. You may become busy, but you don’t become addicted to that level of stress and pressure. Instead of becoming who you are, you dedicate a deliberate amount of time but then move back to being open for more that may come your way.