Are You Spread Too Thin?

Three months have passed since I have written an article. It was not because I did not want to. The truth is I was just too darn busy and over committed. How did this happen? It's easy when we are not careful.
Personally for me it was like the perfect storm of time gobblers. I have aging parents both in their 90's who need my time. I have a very demanding day job that requires immediate action reacting to requests. I am a devoted Rotarian active at both the club level and on the District Leadership Team. I was also traveling on business for two weeks. On top of that I had four speaking engagements over that period requiring allot of preparation. Now you can easily see why I was over committed. Temporary yes, but it happened none the less.
Are you ever awakened at four in the morning thinking I have to get these things done? People are depending on me. If so it's time to shed some commitments and duties. I believe people get burned out from over commitment which causes stress. Two things happen when we are in this stressed state. We make bad decisions and more often than not make no decision at all.
The truth of the matter is very little gets accomplished when we are over committed. The old adage of give it to a busy person and they will get it done does not always hold true if they are over committed. So why do we allow ourselves to get in this space? Uncontrollable things will happen that require our time. Things like family issues that we can't say no to. These things will always appear in our lives. The real culprit is not having the ability to say no for a request of our time and expertise."
Here is what I do when my time gets maxed out.

1. I make an appointment with myself to review my commitments with the object that I am going to drop some commitments. Note, you will need some quiet time for this. No distractions.
2. I write down all my commitments. All of them!
3. I then prioritize my commitments into "have to" and "choose to."
4. I then schedule walking time. This helps clear my head. Exercise helps reduce stress.
5. I eliminate the least important of my commitments.
6. I repeat if necessary.

I consider myself a time management pro and I got caught. We all get caught up in things we are passionate about and say yes. My recommendation is the next time your asked to help or commit either say no or tell them you will let them know tomorrow after you check your schedule. You be glad you did.