Reduce the busyness in your life

Do you feel like your life is rushing by? 

Do you feel like every minute of your day is filled with something to keep you busy, like work, exercise/training, family, commuting, emails, phone calls, bills, social events and maybe some cooking/eating and sleeping? 

As an athlete, there's a good chance that you excel in managing a lot, every single day. You also may also have the tendency to say "yes" a lot, feeling like you can do it all, while saying no makes you feel inadequate. You may notice that if you have free time, you feel uncomfortable, insecure, unproductive, anxious and maybe even worried.

I've been working on the concept of busyness for several years. Not to be more busy but to become less busy. Yes, having more free time. I love staying busy and I thrive off a packed to-do list but I have learned over the years, that life was rushing by me way too fast and I felt like I was not able to really enjoy it. While I will never lose my work ethic (especially as a small business owner) and I know I have a lot to get done every day, I have learned how to say no more often, manage my time better, put myself first at times and to not overbook myself with responsibilities. 

Certainly, this did not happen over night and it was very uncomfortable to change my normal thinking and ways of going about life. 

My dad passed away from cancer in May 2014. I was very close to him. We talked every day on the phone. He was very proud of me for all my educational, work and athletic accomplishments and he did an excellent job of bragging about me to his patients. 

Of course, to succeed with my past accomplishments, I had to devote myself to what I was doing, with high motivation and a high achiever attitude. But at the same time, my dad always encouraged me to not work "too much." 

Not only was my dad always happy but he was extremely successful as the chief optometrist of a VA clinic (formally at a VA hospital for over 20 years). He just loved his job and he loved working. He had so many responsibilities at work and he hated to miss work, but he never seemed to be "too busy." 

My dad had a lot of hobbies - he loved old cars, old movies, listening to the radio, fixing things, electronics, stamp collecting, taking care of the lawn, coin collecting, astronomy and jogging. Despite being so successful at his job and having a family to raise and take care of, he was never "too busy" to enjoy things that he loved to do. 

Although my dad loved working, he passed away just two years away from his retirement, so he never really got to enjoy "the good life" as a retired adult. 

However, in my eyes, my dad had the good life. 

He never ever took a day for granted. 

He was never ever "too busy" to enjoy life. 

It's interesting that I married a European because I feel like my dad was always telling me to "work to live, don't live to work" which is a similar strategy of the European lifestyle. 

Of course, Karel didn't have this lifestyle when he came to America as when he pursued the "American Dream", he was simply an immigrant working 2-3 jobs a day, just to survive in the USA.

I learned a lot from my dad but I have also learned a lot from Karel. 

If you feel like there is always something to do, always overwhelmed and never enough time to do everything, take some time and begin to simplify your life. I encourage you not to put yourself second but instead, to think about your happiness and how it improves your overall quality of life. 

In order to reduce the busyness in your life, it is important to stop the equation of:

busy = happy= successful. 

You can be happy and not be busy and you can be busy and not be successful. 

And you can be busy, not happy and successful.

My equation looks a little something like this: 

Productive = fulfilled. 

Prioritize your life so that the most important things in your life are on the top of your to-do list. Be sure not to overload your to-do list with extra stuff. Manage your time wisely, be productive with your time, learn to say no and don't feel the need to fill in every free minute of the day. 

And above all, never ever neglect your own health. 

Stop being so busy

If something is important to you, you'll make time for it.
You'll find a way, not an excuse and you'll make progress because something is better than nothing. 

You are an expert at being busy! 

So, if you are passionate about something or it makes you feel good, is feeling busy all the time, really the way that you want to live your life?

Athletes are fantastic at staying busy. We know how to put a lot on our daily to-do list but it seems like sometimes we can never get everything done. Like we are always playing catch-up but we can't stop being so busy. 

One of the hardest situations for an athlete to be in is to feel like you are always behind - behind on workouts, behind in life, behind on healthy eating, behind at work, behind on family obligations, behind on chores. It's very hard to make time for everything that is important to you and because of that, it would be to your benefit to stop being so busy. 

For many people, it can feel normal to feel busy all the time. If work duties are done on time, then your time at home is spent doing laundry, cleaning and paying bills. Once you get everything done at home, you feel like you have slacked on your workouts. And then on top of it all, you feel like you should be spending more time with friends and family because work and training has been super busy.

One word I don't like to use (nor my athletes) is the word sacrifices. Sacrifices do not get us ahead in life so stop saying you are making sacrifices. For us athletes, sacrifices can often make us feel guilty and we end up carrying around guilt. Rather than feeling like you are making a sacrifice, consider the investments you are making instead. 

Think about the last time you trained. What was on your mind? Your upcoming race in 6 months, your cadence or stride or stroke, your breathing or form....or the bills you need to pay, the errands you need to run, the dishes you forgot to put away, the laundry you still need to fold?

There are a limited number of hours in each day so if you invest your time wisely, you can increase productivity. You'll never get the most out of a workout if your mind is somewhere else and if you are too busy to make the time to eat healthy, you are just not fueling your body properly for your workout routine. If you aren't getting rested sleep, you will struggle to stay energized throughout the day.

With everything that you may be trying to get done, you are likely making a sacrifice somewhere else and this is no way to live life.

So, if you aren't busy does this mean you are lazy or not doing enough? Absolutely not! You just need to make your investments wisely and stop trying to be busy all the time.

Yes - you can stop being so busy!

The problem with staying busy is losing your present moment. Cramming too much into one day is exhausting and you miss out on important things in life that bring happiness and joy.

No matter how much you get accomplished each day or how much you put on your to-do list, it can become emotionally and physically draining to be so busy. You may say to yourself that there is no other way you can live without being so busy because you just have so much to do, but the most important take-away is asking yourself if you are making things happen and making time for yourself and others, or constantly feeling like you can never slow down or catch-up. 

Here are a few tips to be okay with with not being so busy:

-If you are an athlete, you likely have the trait that you will find a way to get it all done - no matter what. So next time you have a free 10-15 minutes in your day, enjoy doing nothing. You can still be super productive in life without filling in every second, of every day, with something to-do. Savor free time for yourself or with loved ones, every day. 

-Just relax. Enjoy an intentional skipped workout every now and then. Rather than cleaning your house, take an hour and prepare a home-cooked meal with your spouse, close friend/family or child. Don't bring your computer in your bed at night to answer emails, pay bills, book tickets or write on your blog, enjoy your free time wisely and if free time comes into your life, see it as rest time because you likely don't rest enough. 

-It's almost impossible for most people to turn off the work mode button (especially if you work from home). Our career/job is a big part of our lives (it pays the bills and pays for race fees) but what part of your job keeps you so busy? Is it the hours worked or could it also be the stress associated with work and the stress that comes home with you? It's very easy to feel unbalanced in life because of job-related stress or expectations. Figure out the best work-life balance so that you are not so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. 

-If you are willing to make the necessary investments to improve your performance as an athlete, you need to simplify your commitments. As hard working individuals/athletes, it's easy to take on too many responsibilities. Declutter your life so that you can truly enjoy the things in life that are truly important to you. This doesn't only include tasks and meetings but also TV, social media and anything else in life that is not a necessity. And if something in life helps improve your efficiency or helps you stay on the right track, consider it an investment to your time even if it costs you money.

-Schedule some time for yourself. Get inside your thoughts and what you really want in life. If there are negative people in your life draining your energy and robbing you of your happiness and joy, remove the negative energy from your life right now. 

-Books, magazines, TVs, newspapers, podcasts. Wow - there is a serious issue of information overload these days. If we aren't learning something new, we are trying to confirm what we already know. It takes a lot of time and energy to be in the know of everything so only spend time on what is relevant to you. If the information truly makes you a better, healthier and happier person, this should be your only source of information. 

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Manage your time wisely, make investments not sacrifices and slow down and stop adding so much to your already busy life.