There is so much truth in this that it actually hurts my insides. It’s startling to me how differently I feel when I’m working with purposes vs. just obsessing over how much there is to do.
I pride myself on being a hard worker. And that’s true, it’s in my nature. But lately, I’ve gotten all clogged up. I wrote in my journal recently.
I’m having a hard time knowing what to spend my time on.
This has been such a struggle lately.
I need clarity.
Systems.
Plans.
Sometimes I get into the mindset of if I’m not actively working on something that will make me money, it’s a waste of time. Uh. That’s ridiculous. I know how I work. And for me, if there isn’t a system in place, plans in action, it’s all a bunch of wasted time.
I’ve blogged about this several times recently. I talked to you about how to combat the overwhelm. I shared with you my secret weapon, describing how Wunderlist has saved my life. But the truth is, I’m still a work in progress. Everything I wrote in those posts is true, but they take practice. It’s a choice to be prepared and to work purposely.
I’ll admit I’ve fallen into the category of wasting physical and mental energy simply obsessing about my goals. I’ve admitted that I have a ton of projects going on right now. And every single one of them is a choice. And every single one of them bring me joy. So why have I felt so depleted, stressed, and unhappy lately?
Because I haven’t actually been working on them
as much as I’ve been obsessing about them.
That’s not to say I haven’t been productive. But my productivity has been stunted with all the messy head stuff. Kristin said it best when she said that sometimes we, as bloggers, tend to overthink things.
Why do we do that?
So take the time. Sit down. Pull out your calendar and your list of goals. Find a place for each one. When everything has a place, things start to feel less messy in your head. And you stop obsessing and actually start working.
Before you know it, you’re back to productivity with a work/life balance (whatever the hell that is).
The last few weeks, I’ve heard the phrase stop the glorification of busy. I’ve been the definition of that lately. The martyr sacrificing her life for the sake of the words. stop it.
There is nothing attractive about that life at all. And there’s nothing admirable about it either. Here I am proclaiming my desire to motivate and encourage people, and I fell into the trap of doing it all wrong.
But the truth is, it’s a journey. I’ve never done this before, so I’m bound to make a bunch of mistakes. And that’s okay. But learn from mine, don’t waste your time obsessing.
You’ll end the day exhausted with little to show for it.
And you deserve more than that.
Have you read my book yet? Download it here! I’ll love you forever and ever and we can be besties for life!
I think we spend more time organizing to-do lists than actually accomplishing to-do lists.
For this reason, I'm leaving the paper planner behind (writing things down can be a timesuck…especially if I'm repeating things in different planners/apps). I'm switching to just a paper calendar and Wunderlist.
The martyr thing has ALWAYS been super annoying. I don't know why some people don't get that.
Oh man, I needed this today. If I could just stop the constant arrival of new emails in my inbox, I think I'd feel a lot better about my work. Every time I feel like I'm finally getting a handle on things, something new pops up that needs to be taken care of! It's enough to drive a girl crazy.
xoxo
Kat
It's definitely hard sometimes to actually get things done, we all spend more time obsessing over them.
great post girl! i obsess about things a lot, not necessarily goals/dreams/working on things, but just getting obsessed about things… it takes away from enjoying every other part of life, so while i am not a busy person and don't consider myself one.. i need to let go of things i obsess over, and work on enjoying life as it's happening. that probably doesn't make any sense, but your post was very helpful to me lol
This is so true! I have never thought of it as obsessing, but it makes total sense. Definitely something that resonates with me, too.
This is something I've struggled with, too. I read Inc. and AdWeek pretty religiously and a recurring theme so many people in those publications talk about is learning to differentiate between being busy and being productive. I've tried, I try, I'm trying, but it's difficult for me to focus on a few key things for the day when my default response is wanting to write every single thing I intend to do on a given day down. I was always convinced it made me feel more productive when I wrote down things I had already done- sort of like I had a head start. It seemed like writing down the simplest tasks, knowing I'd be able to check them off my list quickly, was good for my morale. I'm liking the "only add the 3 most important things to a to-do list" way far better. I'm still working on it, though. You may like this: http://www.inc.com/kory-kogon/why-busy-is-not-the-same-as-productive.html