Why haven’t you written? Emailed? Called? Sorry, I’ve been so busy! How often have we asked and answered with those very words? I’ll even add “Why haven’t you texted back?” to the list of questions I send my adult kids. Sorry, work/school/life has been so busy!
I get it. Our lives are busy. That’s just the way life is for almost everyone all the time. But when we tell others that we’ve been too busy to respond, the real message is that responding was not as high on our priority list as it was on theirs. We may not realize it; we may even deny it. It doesn’t change the fact that in our über-busy lives, everything is a matter of priorities. However, we can find a way to manage our time and arrange our lives to make relationships and meaningful activities more of a priority.
My friends: OK, Ms. Super-Efficient-Organized Smarty Pants, just how do we do that?
Me: Research. Track. Reflect. Repeat.
Research
Contrary to popular belief, people aren’t born super organized or efficient. That’s where research comes in. In today’s world, research is available at the click of a mouse. If you think you’re too busy to google, dear mid-lifers, try to remember back in the olden days when we had to go to a library, search for authors and topics in card catalogues, track down the books or articles, and only then could we check them out and read them.
Many minimalist bloggers write about the dilemma of busyness. They know that living simply is not just about the physical stuff. It’s about creating space and time in our schedules to help us live more meaningful lives. (To save you some time, I’ve listed a few resources below and you can always check out my Resource page.)
Track
Are you sure you’re so busy? Laura Vanderkam writes about the myth of the time crunch in her book, 168 Hours. We all assume we have very little free time, but her work with people tracking their week by hours proves that we generally overestimate how much time we’re involved in required tasks like work and underestimate how much free time we really have.
Instead of assuming that you are working all the time and have little free time, track all 168 hours of your week. Even if you subtract 56 hours for sleeping and 50 hours for work and commute, that still leaves you with 62 hours, or over 8 hours per day for meals, errands, and fun. Track your day and week a couple of times to get a more typical picture of how time flies (or doesn’t).
Reflect
After tracking your days and week(s), take a good look at the result. Reflect on how you’ve spent your time. Are you getting enough sleep? Did you track your meals? Grooming routines? What about the time for watching shows? Come on now, be honest with yourself! No one is going to call you out for binge watching a show all weekend. It’s your life, after all.
Then reflect on what you want to change. Perhaps start by getting up half an hour earlier to read or write or walk. Leo Babauta recommends starting very small and then building on your success. Gretchen Rubin presents numerous strategies to help change habits. Can you delegate any of the tasks you dislike? Can you let go? Are you willing to drop activities that don’t truly contribute to your life? The important thing is to figure out what works for you and then begin.
We like to say that modern life is responsible for driving us all to such busy lives, but I suspect that in centuries past, people were just as busy but in different ways. They didn’t have time-saving conveniences and the lifestyle choices that we have. We’re actually quite privileged to have many more options. Let’s stop letting the busyness of life overwhelm us and begin prioritizing people and meaningful activities.
RESOURCES
Books
Babauta, Leo Essential Zen Habits: Mastering the Art of Change, Briefly
Bailey, Chris The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
Ferriss, Timothy The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Susanka, Sarah TThe Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters
Vanderkam, Laura 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think
Podcasts
Optimal Living Daily
The 5 AM Miracle with Jeff Sanders
For more resources, go to this page: Resources
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