Does it feel common for you to say “I am too busy to…”?
Are you often finding yourself wishing you had “more time” to do certain things?
How many times a week do you excuse yourself to people because “you had no time”?
Are you actually truly busy? Or just stressed, or overwhelmed?
I have personally been in this situation so many times, for so long in my life. I was running after time, or rather after life. And I deeply thought that I was doing everything the right way. I just thought this was the way life was, and was trying to play around this as good as I could (or so I thought).
I had to learn a better way through pain, which is often the case by the way. The pain teacher, ever heard about it? For example, someone has a heart attack, and suddenly starts spending more time exercising and choosing good food, more than ever before. Because before, this same person was just saying: “I have no time, I am too busy”. So yes, sometimes life chooses a tough way to make you understand important things. Do you need to get through those extremes to start taking time for those important things that you are always too busy for? Maybe not. Sometimes, just being aware of it can help you change things.
1. Rethink your priorities
Are you complaining because you have no time to exercise? Are you even a bit envious or frustrated with those people who constantly post their workout experiences on social media? As a Holistic Health Coach, most of clients tell me that they have no time to move their body every day. Even when I give them a 15-20 minutes short program. Until they realize that this is actually a top priority for them now. Once they realize it, they find time to do it. And suddenly, they are still as busy, but do include this essential time in their daily routine. A miracle? No. Only some people can afford that? No. We all can. If this becomes a priority for you, there won’t be any excuses anymore, but only ways to find time to just do it. This works for anything. Therefore, being clear about your own priorities in life is CRUCIAL. Don’t let the others decide for you. Be true about it to yourself. And see the shift (and habits) change.
2. Be aware of your fears
Sometimes, saying you have “no time” to do something is a sign of SELF-SABOTAGE. You are blocked by a greater force inside of you. Something that is holding you back because of a greater fear. It might be the fear of changing, a lack of confidence, fear of what other people will think, fear of failure… I am at a point today where I think that fear is a lack of love. Love yourself, love your future failures because they will make you evolve. Don’t stay stuck in your own or others’ limitations. Being aware of those fears and personal challenges or struggles can help you take a step back and realize that time might not be what you are lacking of. Everything comes back to who you really are, deep within. Connect to your soul and liberate yourself from those challenges.
3. Procrastination
You might really want to take care of some paperwork but somehow, you never do it because it is late in the day when you think about it and now it is just too late. So tomorrow will be better. And the day after? The same happens… and so on. I took the example of the paperwork because this still happens to me a lot :-)) It is just procrastination, and this has nothing to do with “not having time”. This is about being a bit afraid of doing something we don’t like, or laziness, or finding other more important things to do. The way to get over it? Just do it!! Start the day with those tasks, before anything else. This can be life changing, and truly liberating as you get rid of those things quicker and can spend the rest of the day do things that you truly enjoy :-)
4. Analyze how you are spending your time
Many people think themselves as overbusy. But then, when taking a step back and really looking into how they are spending the hours of the days, they realize that they are actually wasting a lot of time in meaningless activities. And yes, I am talking about things like watching brainwashing TV shows for example. You might think this is a way to “disconnect” after a hard day at work. But actually, it is proven that it is much more relaxing (physically and mentally) to read a book, meditate or listen to some personal development audios. Value your time because this is your life. There are for sure many little things you are doing that are taking you a lot of time in total and that you absolutely don’t need. Be objective about it and as we were saying earlier, reset your priorities. You are well worth it.
So now you know. If you want to work with me, I don’t want to hear that “you don’t have time” to do the things you have to do to become healthier, feel better and be happier... :-) Some times in life might get busier and tougher, but don’t lose track and go back to your priorities as soon as possible.
Spend time thinking of better more efficient ways to organize your life. Who wants to arrive at the end of their life and realize that they never took time to do what they really wanted to do?
Just make it happen. It only depends on you.
In Love and Happiness,
Stephanie