Cultivating a Less Busy Life and Mindset - Part 2

One way to “feel” less busy (i.e., to feel less overwhelmed and exhausted) is to do less. To be more intentional about your time.

Busy is a thought, not a feeling. And doing less can often get rid of or at least lessen the “I’m so busy/underwater/slammed” thoughts, which then leads to less overwhelm and exhaustion. Which then allows you to be even more intentional about how you are spending your time. 

But the idea of doing less can, in and of itself, feel overwhelming if you don’t know where to start.

Here are some tactics you can try to be more intentional about your time: 

▫️ Time blocking ▫️ 

We tend to seriously overestimate what we can do in the short term. So we create this ambitious to-do list that is either truly impossible or can only be done if absolutely everything goes perfectly. 

Part of that is because when you are just working from a to-do list or your email inbox, you can’t actually see how long things are going to take you. So you plan to do way more than is feasible or way more than actually feels good.

Time blocking everything (including the time you need to be human) allows you to visually see whether your plan is even feasible. 

I also recommend adding at least an hour of unassigned time to account for urgencies or surprises that come up, that work friend that always shows up in your office unexpectedly, the thing that takes you longer than you anticipated, etc.

You’re probably going to be bad at it at first. You’re going to underestimate how long things take you. You’re still going to try and do too much. That’s okay. Each time, you learn something new so you can make changes going forward. 

▫️ The Chanel Rule ▫️ 

CoCo Chanel had a rule: “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take at least one thing off.”

You can try this with your daily planning. Make your to-do list like you always do. Then remove at least one thing. It’s pretty safe to assume that if you are always busy, your to-do list is a perfectionist fantasy. You can just accept that’s your inclination and then adjust slightly.

You can always add things to the list if you find yourself with extra time. But when you start out overly ambitious and then you beat yourself up for not getting all the things done… Nothing changes, and you just feel worse. 

A ❤️ note to you: 

If you struggle to implement strategies like this because all the thoughts come up (I can’t, I shouldn’t, I have to) and all of the feelings (guilt, anxiety, shame)… 

That’s where I can help. Send me an email or sign up for a free call with me at jenndealcoaching.as.me/consult to get started.