Home Back to Articles Shannon Seek Author, Organic Organizing February 03 - If You Are So Busy, How Come You Always Feel Behind? The Organic Organizing Newsletter | 7th Edition by Shannon Seek, BS, CPCC, CDS, Professional Organizer Have you ever taken on so much that it resulted in playing constant catch up? One of my clients, Alex, had an ongoing problem of adding more "stuff" (things, obligations) to his plate before he could deal with any current messes or backlog. He was constantly "behind." As he took on more obligations, knowing somewhere inside he could not do everything, can you imagine his stress level? Basically, his never being on top of current messes created a never-ending cycle of being driven from one crisis to the next. If you have an inkling that this sounds at all familiar, perhaps you will relate to at least one of the following examples of how easy this behavior happens: Subscribing to multiple magazines and planning to read them in the future Not having a clear sense of what mail to keep vs. to immediately throw away Buying more clothes when you have no room to put away what you already have, let alone days in the month to wear them Volunteering as treasurer for a club when you haven't had time to pay your own bills Agreeing to have friends over for dinner when you have a project due tomorrow and it is currently covering your dining room table Taking more classes, joining another club, and just doing more in general even though you are missing things by forgetting, from being over scheduled, or just feeling exhausted (continued, above right) Back to the top (continued) Perhaps it is easier to just say yes in the moment, than to stop, slow down, and decide if it is possible to take on one more thing. Here is what I recommended to Alex that allowed him to finally catch up that may help you, too: 1) Start saying "no" at least once a day for the practice alone, if nothing else - it could be as simple as "no" to reading more e-mail before you leave work (Essential Action #2 from my Organic Organizing Matrix sm/tm)) 2) Leave at least 25% of your work day unscheduled and Leave 75% of your personal time unscheduled (Essential Action #5 from from my Organic Organizing Matrix sm/tm)) 3) Get on top of what is currently on your plate (i.e., clean your own house before you volunteer to clean a friend's garage) 4) Have a clear vision of what serves you and what doesn't, and act on it (i.e., if your goal is to read more books for fun, watching re-runs on television may not accomplish this) The trick to having more time is to make the time to think clearly and be able to make decisions from a calm, centered state of mind. Besides preventing future crises that will only waste your time, you might actually get more done. Is there somewhere you could be more present and on top of your life? About the Author: Shannon Seek is available for private coaching, teamwork and presentations on getting more focused, effective and organized. For more information, please contact Seek Solutions at: findit@seeksolutions.com or visit her coaching & consulting website: http://www.seeksolutions.com Back to the top | Home |   | OOM Store |   | Info (Newsletter) |   | Contact |   | Privacy Policy | All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Shannon Seek, Seek Solutions, 1995-2003 Marin County, San Francisco Bay Area, California (CA), USA Tel +1 415-925-8856 www.organicorganizing.com info@organicorganizing.com