Schedule packed with commitments?

Always on the go-go-go? Never have enough time to get everything done? Feeling stressed out, over-worked, over-committed or just downright lousy?

We live in a culture where we are taught that if we aren’t doing something productive at all times, we’re being lazy. And I, too, believed this until recently.

My post-college years were filled with commitments. I packed my schedule to the brim. Worked 12 plus hour per day. I rarely had free-time to myself.

Now, my life looks much different. As a recovering busyness addict and workaholic myself, I see it as my personal mission to help others break free from the busyness curse.

Why is breaking the busyness curse important to helping us live a healthier, freer life?

Because simply put: doing less, actually creates more—more time, more space, more freedom to be who we truly are.

I have fabulous coaches and mentors in my life who have been telling me for the past few years that I need to slow down—that I need to enjoy the journey that I’m on. That it’s okay to take a step back and breathe every now and then. That it’s okay to not work until 8 o’clock at night when I’m exhausted and drained.

“But how I am supposed to do that when I’m building a business?!” I often argued back. “There is so much to do. I could work 24/7 and still never be finished.”

I don’t know when the shift happened exactly, perhaps when I moved to North Carolina this past August, but what I do know, I have officially slowed down. I don’t overcommit myself anymore, I don’t sit in front of the computer for days on end.

Instead I.

Take time for yoga every day.

Read books—like actual paper books.

Spend time relaxing with my main squeeze.

Go to the beach on a Wednesday afternoon if I feel like taking a technology break.

And guess what happened when I slowed down and started living my freeing life?

My business grew—hugely. I have more than doubled my revenue in just a few short months.

All while being more relaxed, more focused and more free.

When we quit over-scheduling ourselves and start doing less, we give ourselves the space we need to receive more freedom in our lives.

Turns out those coaches and mentors I mentioned before actually knew what they were talking about. I never really doubted them, I just didn’t know how to make it work.

Now that I have, I need to share it.

Here are five ways to stop a busyness addiction:

1. Get super, super clear on how we want to feel—and design our days around that. Identifying my core desired feeling to being more free literally changed my life overnight. My day revolves around me feeling free and doing what I want to do—not what I supposedly have to do.

2. Create a daily schedule and stick to it. I schedule my day in two hour increments and it helps me stay on track, be super productive, and get all of my tasks accomplished. No time wasted browsing my Facebook newsfeed anymore

3. Make self-care a top priority. That schedule above? Use it to schedule in some self-care. I’ve found that I’m actually more productive when I step away from my work and get some me time in. I schedule in everything I do each day—even things like yoga, meditation, healthy meals and a relaxing bath.

4. Learn to say no. This is a tough one that we all struggle with! Although it’s not always possible to say no to important work related or family tasks, we can always say no to that birthday party that we’re not really interested in going to. This takes some practice, so be patient if it does not come naturally!

5. Stop saying, “I don’t have enough time,” “there isn’t enough time in the day,” or similar limiting phrases that focus on scarcity.

Lets just take them out of our vocabulary altogether. Switching to more of an abundance mindset allows the abundance to flow. Suddenly not having enough time everyday turns into having plenty of time to work and play, just by eliminating those limiting phrases.

These five tips have helped me—especially in the past few months. I realize that doing less actually produces more may sound like a foreign language – especially if we’ve never heard it before—but maybe that’s exactly why we needed to hear it today.

Now I’d love to hear from you! What other steps can we take to break the busyness curse?

 Relephant read:

10 Ways to Take Care of Ourselves when we’re Suffering from Burn Out.

~

Author: Andrea Hood

Editor: Ashleigh Hitchcock

Photo: flickr