4 Questions to Ask When You Are too Busy

“I’m too busy…” 

I hear this phrase a lot! From people who are looking to grow companies, start companies, or even friends of mine just trying to lose weight. This is probably the most common excuse we give as reasons why we can’t start things, follow our dreams, or accomplish goals. Let me tell you right now that I don’t believe in being “too busy”. I understand that you may have a lot on your plate, as a mother and business owner I can tell you right now I have a bunch going on. The thing about the term busy is that it’s not a permanent state of being. At any point in time you can make the choice to not be busy by simply moving commitments around or passing things off to others (even procrastinating a bit).

Think about the last time you were extremely “busy” and something came up that you had to do or that you WANTED to do. Let me give you an example: I have been telling my husband for years that I would try to learn Spanish. The excuse I would always give him as why I could not do this is “I’m too busy”. But just a few months ago I added charity work to my ever growing list of things I do. Before joining The Junior League here in Salt Lake City my husband said to me, “what time do you have to give to this organization?”. This is a valid question seeing as I have been “too busy” to learn Spanish. You know what I said to him, “I will make time”... I bet you have done this exact thing when something came up on a day you were busy, most likely you made time for it.

Being overly busy is a choice that can often be changed if you figure out where you can make room. The best way to do this is by asking yourself these 4 questions:

Question 1: Does this need to be done right now?

This might seem a bit silly to ask but oftentimes we are stressing about things that don’t need to be done right this second. If you have 4 days to complete something and you are halfway done it probably doesn’t need to be completed right now. I should include here that I don’t recommend procrastination as your first resort but if you have a reasonable amount of time to do something, pushing it off a little bit is okay.

Question 2: Do I need to be the one to do this?

I am guilty of doing things myself simply because it’s faster or because it’s easier than giving someone else instructions. This is a mindset issue that many people experience and need to unpack a bit. Recognizing that other people can help you and lighten your load if you just let them and provide some instructions is a huge help to your busy schedule. So next time you are stressed or overwhelmed ask yourself what can be done by someone else. Can your partner help you around the house? Can you hire an assistant to lighten your load?

Question 3: Does this impact my bottom line or add value to my life?

If this is not something that NEEDS to be done (ie: paying bills, drafting paperwork, cleaning, etc) ask yourself if it adds value to your life or business in some way. If the answer is no then most likely it doesn’t need to be done by you or anyone else. For example, if you are planning to run errands that don’t actually NEED to happen then you are essentially wasting time. 

Question 4: Do I need to re-negotiate deadlines?

Most people are flexible when setting deadlines. If you really can’t find any room in your day for other tasks, see if you can extend deadlines and move things around to allow for some breathing room. Recognizing you need some extra time will help you plan better in the future and get in the habit of not jam packing your schedule.

Remember that you are in control of your own schedule and life. If you are feeling busy all the time use these questions to help you identify where extra time can be had. If you can’t not find time and need to get some more hands on deck feel free to reach out to me via the contact section on my website and I will be happy to help!