Don’t Over Commit!

In our fast paced moving world, it is a common noted struggle that so many feel overwhelmed with so many activities, projects, and tasks, and not enough time. Add kids to that mix and you’re doing life double time – yours & theirs! Can you relate?

So how do we manage overwhelm and not over commit ourselves in the first place?

Consider these three tips…before saying yes to one more thing!

1. What are my top priorities? While it’s easy to feel that everything is a priority and so many things we want to do, we must choose our top priorities to negate over committing and overwhelming ourselves and our families. By getting clear on your top priorities, you’re increasing your effectiveness with what matters most to you and freeing up valuable time and attention that is so easily spread over multiple distractions. While it would be nice to be in Olympic athlete shape, while home schooling your three children, keeping an immaculate home, volunteering on every board, and running a Fortune 500 company – the odds of trying to do everything and be great at it in the meantime is an unrealistic expectation. So empower yourself by choosing what matters most to you.

2. Consider the approval need. As social creatures, we as human beings desire to be liked. We all like to be loved and give love to others and enjoy great relationships. That’s completely healthy and normal. Where we oftentimes blur the lines and complicate our lives and schedules is when we may be saying yes and overcommitting ourselves solely because we want someone else’s approval. Or simply put, we care more about their feelings and not saying no than we care about our own interests and priorities. Next time you’re asked to commit to something, check it out with first your identified priorities – does it fit? And secondly by asking, is this what’s best for me? By checking in with ourselves first, we are honoring our needs and boundaries before just saying yes.

3. Consider the time swap. If indeed you are wanting to commit yourself or one of your children to a new activity or project, determine where the time will come from. It is so common to believe that we have so much more time in perception than we actually do in real time. So if you’re saying yes to a new sport or hobby, what will you be swapping out? Where will it fit? By considering the actual time commitment before committing, we set ourselves up to succeed and thrive and avoid overcommitting to something that may sound great, but realistically not fit into our schedules.