Can you stay relaxed when you are busy? Well, at least you can get better at it. In this article I share some tips and thoughts.
“Life goes by fast. enjoy it.
Calm down. It’s all funny. Next.
Everyone gets so upset about the wrong things.”
Busy yet relaxed – that would be nice
Sometimes you’re just busy – it’s no different. One minute everything seems fine, but then life throws in a few jokes. And suddenly you’re running and flying, wondering what went wrong.
And while there are of course all kinds of things you can do to prevent it from happening again in the future (such as taking less action and planning better), it’s of little use now. Things have to go.
The question is: can you be busy and still be relaxed? To a certain extent, you absolutely can, and these tips can help you get better at it.
By the way , let me say that being busy is largely undesirable and unnecessary as far as I am concerned . Please don’t use these tips to work yourself even more effectively in a burnout. We all experience busy periods from time to time, but if you are always too busy then it is time to make structural changes.
Okay, let’s get started.
1. Remember what really matters
Few things are really important in life. And many of the things that make you so busy aren’t one of them. Once we are running and flying, life starts to feel heavier and heavier.
The faster you run, the faster you have to run to keep up with the pace . Rushing and rushing seem to speed up time, making you more and more rushed and feeling busier and busier. The more serious life begins to feel. This makes even small, useless things suddenly seem very serious.
You suddenly find yourself worrying about things that don’t really matter. Such as the design of your living room, not being able to comply with your bizarrely strict diet, small setbacks, etc.
But which things are really important?
- Your physical health
- Your mental health!
- Relationships with your loved ones
- The health of your loved ones
- Have a little fun in your life
- Do something that makes you happy
- To have sufficient resources to lead a good, quality and simple life
And the rest is extra. And it’s usually those extras that we get excited about . But if you just see all those things for what they are, then you don’t have to worry too much about it.
It’s great that you complete all those projects and are successful and such, all bonus. As long as you have nice people around you and are a bit healthy, it is only a bonus. No reason to get worked up about it.
2. Plan, delete and postpone
If you are too busy then there is a lack of priorities, very simple. And you can get 90% of the results with much less stress if you learn to cut out the unnecessary things.
So pay a little more attention to planning . Roughly plan the year, plan your month, plan your week, and plan your day. Planning takes time, and in that time you don’t achieve anything concrete, making it tempting to just ‘get started’. But remember that an hour of planning can save you a lot of work in the long run.
When you are planning you have a little more overview . And these are the moments when you come to important conclusions. Like, “I really want this and it feels very important, but I might as well put this off until next quarter.” So – that makes a difference.
Or: “If I just don’t do these things , that’s actually fine too. I want to do everything perfectly, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Good enough is also fine for now.” Fine.
And: ”Do I really want this on my own? Or am I doing this because I’m seeking approval? Am I actually trying to please others?” If so – get rid of it.
And suddenly your week looks a lot calmer. Pretty nice. If you stop causing extra work, life suddenly turns out to be a lot less complicated.
3. Break the crowds into a thousand little pieces
Completing tasks is essentially just a matter of moving your body, thinking thoughts and saying words. And when you look at your tasks in such small steps, it all suddenly feels a lot less overwhelming.
Thoughts complicate it all . Sometimes I feel like I’m terribly busy, but in practice I just move my fingers over a keyboard and think for a bit. It’s not all that bad anymore. If I leave out the stories of stress, there’s little left to really worry about.
Give it a try. See the tasks you have to do as simple expressions of life . Movement, thinking, talking. Shopping is a matter of walking, grabbing products and walking on. It is nothing more if you let go of the thoughts.
4. Cherish Your Calming Routines
No matter how busy you are, chances are you will find time to brush your teeth. Brushing your teeth is a habit so important to you that you make time for it .
Likewise you also have time to make the four habits that help you to be stronger and calmer in turbulent times:
- Healthy food
- Plenty of sports
- Get enough sleep, do nothing and recover
- Meditation/mindfulness
If you make time for these four habits on a daily basis, chances are you can handle the crowds just fine. These habits provide a strong foundation and prevent you from getting burned out. This way you stay calmer, more stable and stronger – even in times of busyness and unrest.
If you take good care of yourself, you can have more. The busier you are, the more important these habits become . As soon as you exchange self-care for haste and busyness, you enter a downward spiral.
Are you tired? Find ways to get extra sleep. Are you hungry? Put a piece of fruit in it, not a pack of cookies. Do you feel overwhelmed? Take a deep breath and relax, instead of rushing even harder. Self-care isn’t optional, even if it sometimes seems like it.
Once you make self-care optional, you’ll be marching straight into overstrain . And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather take an extra nap every now and then. Much nicer.
Find more time for yourself
Finding time for yourself is challenging sometimes. Maybe because you have a busy life, maybe because you feel guilty or feel you don’t deserve it.
On Behalf of me and my TEAM A Merry Christmas and a more relaxed 2022.
