5 Practical Solutions to Overcome Your Busy Schedule
How You Can Stop Being Busy and Start Being More Effective
Having solutions to overcome your busy schedule can change the way you work and improve the results you achieve daily.
Most working professionals will admit they are busy most of the time. Allowing yourself to stay busy for long periods will not support you in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The Benefits of Not Having a Busy Schedule
Not having a busy schedule has many benefits. These include:
- Not getting caught up with things that are a lower priority.
- Having time to think and form new ideas.
- Giving yourself a break from working all the time.
- Not feeling stressed or overwhelmed.
- Becoming more productive and effective by focusing on high-leverage activities.
Being busy does not always equate to being effective. Knowing the difference between being busy and being productive will increase your daily outputs.
Most times, the less you do, the better quality results you will produce. Overcoming a busy schedule does not just happen. You have to implement workable or practical solutions to overcome your busy schedule.
Recently, I have allowed my work schedule to get out our hand, as I have been working seven days a week. Even though I enjoy my work, I know this work habit is not sustainable long-term.
After a few attempts at finding the right person to add to my team, I’ve finally added a new virtual team member. This new team member will help free up two days of work a week, which means I can give myself time away from work.
My plan is to continue delegating work I shouldn’t be doing, so I can focus on activities that will have the biggest impact. Being busy should not be an excuse for not doing things that really matter.
5 Practical Solutions to Overcome Your Busy Schedule
There are things you can do if you are constantly busy. They can be a little uncomfortable, but know there are more to gain than lose, if you apply them.
Here are five simple, yet practical solutions to overcome your busy schedule so you can give more attention to activities that will lead to the outcomes you want.
1. Question everything on your schedule. Look at everything you do with fresh eyes. You have to question why you are busy. If you could start with a clean slate, would you allow yourself to have such a busy schedule? The objective here is to have a better understanding of everything you think you need to do.
2. Eliminate as much as possible. Once you know more about what you have on your schedule, eliminate as many things as you can. This can include delegating work to others or asking for help. It will also help to know the activities that are your core genius, meaning doing them is the best use of your time.
3. Clarify your priorities. Everything you do cannot be a priority. A simple way to determine your priorities is by using these four categories:
- Urgent and Important.
- Not Urgent and Important.
- Urgent and Not Important.
- Not Urgent and Not Important.
Most of your tasks should fall in the first two categories.
4. Know your rhythms. There will be certain periods each day when you will be at your best. That is the time to do your most important work. If you make this simple change, you will be more efficient and complete tasks much faster, which means you will create time to focus on other things.
5. Change your language around being busy. Constantly saying you are busy will reinforce it. Being busy does not have to relate to your self-worth or the value you provide. A better approach is to say, “I am focused on my priorities or my highest leverage activities.”
Final Thoughts
For most professionals, there will always be work that needs to get done. However, not everything needs to be done now or trigger unhealthy emotions.
Having a busy schedule does not mean you forget about other things important to you. If you apply these ideas, you will experience a shift in how you look at your work schedule, and also create time to focus on other things.
If you have a busy schedule consistently and don’t make changes, you risk affecting other areas of your life. To avoid worry, stress or anxiety, it’s advisable to implement these practical solutions.
Action Step: Review your current work schedule and question everything you have on it. Once you have a better understanding of what’s important and what’s not, eliminate as many things as possible.
Question: What are other practical solutions you can apply to overcome your busy schedule?
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