Learnvest had an article about being too busy, and of course it was calling out to me. I work full-time (50 hours a week), I spend around 10 hours a week commuting, I’m getting my MBA (12 credits this semester), and I have a house and pups to take care of. Even though I always feel busy, I still spend a lot of my time doing nothing. I’ll get on Facebook, watch TV, go shopping, and so on.
Signs that you’re too busy:
- Do you spend a lot of time worrying about your time? I constantly worry about what I’m doing. I’m always checking my phone to look at my calendar, and it’s a never ending list of things to do. And then I just worry and think about it all forever.
- What you need to do: Take a mental break from your list. Do something that you find relaxing. What I like to do is watch TV, such as How I Met Your Mother.
- Do you remember when you were last spontaneous? I would say that I’m “spontaneous.” According to the article, it’s just catching a last second bite to eat.
- What you need to do: Try being spontaneous and doing things at the last second! Just because it’s not in your planned schedule, doesn’t mean that you can’t do it.
- Do you eat most of your meals on the go? I used to do this, but then it started to get too expensive when I would get fast food 3 times a day.
- What you need to do: Go home and enjoy homemade food!
- When was the last time you talked to your best friend? I talk to my friends everyday, and I hang out with them nearly everyday also.
- What you need to do: Call up your friends! All work and no play is not good for you. Just try having at least a quick phone call to catch up.
- Do you sleep enough? I definitely do not. I get maybe around 4.5 hours of sleep a night, and I get REALLY excited when I can get 6 hours of sleep.
- What you need to do: You should be getting at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep. Not sleeping is not going to help you the next day. You’ll be drained, fall asleep at work and so on.
- Do you wish for people to cancel on you? I’m guilty of this. I don’t like cancelling, but I will sit there and wish for people to cancel on me because I’m so busy.
- What you need to do: Try not to make so many appointments, because obviously you don’t have time.
Are you too busy? What are you guilty of?
I'm so doing this!
I am the same way about always spending time worrying about my time. I think I have a plan (and you should do the same): mental break time – around 7 PM tonight… while watching the Cardinals win the World Series! WOOT!
I'm excited for the game tonight! I'm going downtown tonight, but I'm not prepared for the traffic (or the craziness that will happen if we lose).
I sooo feel the same way as you do! I feel like the night goes by soooo fast but yet, I look back on the night and realize I didn't get anything accomplished!
I always multitask. If I am watching t.v. then I am doing the laundry, sweeping, blogging, cleaning, etc. I never can just sit around and do nothing.
I feel your pain. Currently I am working 50+ hours a week as well and commute at least 10 hours a week. In regards to appointments, I've learned to be pretty blunt – if I don't have someone, I don't book a time with them. I did a major friend purge and deleted Facebook back in February 2011, so I now focus on those who are most important around me. I used to overbook myself but it become overly painful to cancel last minute. So now, if someone wants to hang out but I don't have the time, I straight up and explain my schedule, "I'm busy this day, this day, that day. Sorry, I just don't have the time right now."
I have 2 jobs, but I don't consider myself busy or stressed out by them. My problem is I don't use my time very effectively at home for some reason. Only 4.5 hrs a night? You must be super woman or something. I'd turn into a walking zombie if I did that regularly."In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is lacking."Sir John Lubbock
I think considering everything I have to do, I SHOULD be busy, but I find I spend so much time doing nothing. Like right now 😛 We're having a Halloween party tonight and our house is a MESS. So I have to clean it, do dishes, finish decorating, I have a bunch of homework I should be doing, Saturdays are my only day off from work, and yet I'm on the computer. And I can bet Spider Solitaire will steal me for another 30 minutes or so. So unfortunately I think I need to learn how to keep up with my busyness and not get so distracted.
I try to be efficient with my time in the evenings when I'm at work.You can only give so much to your job.Sft x
In answer to your question: YES! I feel like I'm multi-tasking because there are way too many things to do. I work two jobs, both are physically demanding, so I'm pretty drained at the end of most days. I just did a 12 hr shift yesterday, and I'm still trying to recover from it.I don't feel like I get enough sleep because I start work at 6:30 am and being a light sleeper doesn't help either. I think if I actually got even 6 hours of solid sleep, I would feel so much better and get so much more done.I think I need to work less and spend more time with my friends.