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Stopping the Glorification of Busy

Lauren Grace Living

Archive

Stopping the Glorification of Busy

Glorification of BusyThis is my first day back to reality after a super relaxing 7 day vacation in Maine. And to be honest, I did not want this trip to end. In my last post Permission to Relax Please, I wrote about how I was having anxiety over taking this vacation. I was afraid to leave my business behind, to be off the grid so to speak. It had been so long since I had a chance to really relax that I was actually uncomfortable with the idea. What would I do without my daily to-do list? Would I be comfortable with abandoning my rigid routine for a whole week?

Well let me tell you, by the time that I set foot off the plane I was ready to leave all my work, all my projects, and all my to-do’s far far behind. By my first glass of wine that evening I felt myself ease into a place of relief and was able to let go of my busy life for awhile. And from that point on I didn’t miss it, not once. In fact as vacation was coming to an end I started to get anxious again. Thinking about the busy week that was ahead of me was stressing me out and also made me sad. While I love what I do I had no desire to dive back into the busy life I had created for myself. Working 5am-12am, over booking myself, never ending to-do lists, being in a complete state of overwhelm all the time. None of this is appealing to me anymore, in fact it gave me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I use to thrive on being crazy busy, and now after just one week of relaxing I no longer desired to live such a hectic life. Something had to change.

On my plane ride back home I realized that I needed to stop the glorification of busy. Being busy for me has been a way of life for the last 10 years. It makes me feel important, accomplished, and like a real entrepreneur. I’ve thrived on having to-do lists and juggling multiple projects at once. Running at 6am after only 5 hours of sleep made me feel like a bad ass, even though I knew my body was struggling to keep up with my enthusiasm. I would measure how hard I was working by how often I felt burnt out. If I wasn’t exhausted by the end of the day then I didn’t do enough. Essentially I bought in to all those concepts about successful people go the extra mile, push harder and longer then everyone else, and never quit. But after spending some time away from that life I realize that my constant obsession with being busy was extremely unhealthy. Not to mention it was no fun! Trying to do it all and reach for an unobtainable level of perfection is not really living, in fact it feels more like dying. It leaves no room for creativity, for moments of peace and presence, and it’s hard to connect with others when you are constantly checking the time. What I am needing in my life right now is to create more of a balanced schedule with moments of respite and play scattered between periods of work. I have no desire to give up my work or stop growing my business, but I do want to change my approach.

During my flight I made a short list of things that I can easily change for me to have a more balanced, happy, and healthy life. Maybe you can relate to some of the following:

  • Get More Sleep: Specifically at least 6-8 hours of sleep every night. For the past few months I’ve been barely surviving on 4-6 hours sleep. I think that the amount of sleep you need varies from day to day and is different for every person. That being said when you live a very active life (which I do) your body and mind needs that time to shut down. On vacation I slept 8-9 hours every night. No alarm, I let my body wake up when it wanted to. Clearly my body naturally wants 8 hours. And while I know that I might not be able to give it that every night, I can do my best and at least get in 6 or 7. This means that sleep needs to become more of a priority for me, and it means that I might not get as much done as I would like to in a day. So I may not get to finish my to-do list or answer every email, and I’m ok with that.
  • Schedule in Time to Relax and Play: This might seem ridiculous, but in order for me to take time to relax or play I actually need to schedule it into my day or it won’t happen. Normally my day starts rushed and ends rushed. I rarely take the time for a breather. But after being on vacation I can see how helpful it would be to just take 30 minutes to read a good book, go for a walk, or even just hang out on Pinterest. To just step away from my work for a few moments can be so rejuvenating for my mind and body. It’s called taking a break, a foreign concept to me up until now.
  • No Work After 8pm: I realize that in order to accomplish the above I need to set some boundaries and stop working late at night. No more answering emails at 10pm, or processing paper work. After 8pm I am shutting it down. In order for me to get more sleep it’s essential that I engage in some relaxation before I go to bed to help slow my mind and body down. And whatever didn’t get done that day is going to have to wait for tomorrow.
  • Have One Day Off: Ok I’ve been saying for over a year now that I am going to take one day off a week to relax and do whatever I want, and it hasn’t happened yet. But I am serious this time. I realize that it is essential for me to have a day to take a mini vacation. Sleep in, lay around, spend time with friends, etc…  In order for me to keep feeling engaged and excited about my work I need to step away from it every now and then. Also my life can’t always be about work. There are other things that are important too, like family, friends, relationships, creativity, etc… It’s time that I give some attention to these other areas of my life as well.

These are all fairly simple guidelines for me to follow and implement into my daily routine. I use the word “guideline” because another thing I realized on vacation is that I make way too many “rules” for myself (more on that next week). So these aren’t a set of hard rules that I can’t break. If I end up answering emails at 9pm one night I’m not going to beat myself up. But I do think that by adopting these guidelines I will feel less stressed, more energized, and over all more satisfied with my day to day life. And only time will tell, but my prediction is that I will actually become more productive by giving myself a more relaxed schedule. Either way I’m done with overwhelm and I’m breaking up with busy. I’ll no longer judge the quality of my life by the size of my to-do list.

Are you ready to stop the glorification of busy in your life? What are some things you can alter in your own schedule to allow more time for relaxing? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.