You’re not “too busy.”
Get over that lie.
We keep ourselves eternally “busy” by checking email and Facebook, obsessively over-measuring and over-analyzing everything, second-guessing, waiting for perfect, asking too many opinions and essentially “working” round the clock while getting very little done.
We all fall victim to it.
It crippled me for years.
While getting caught in the busy trap is horrible for your productivity at work, it can also ruin your social life.
Because you keep yourself constantly “busy” by doing inconsequential nonsense you actually “don’t” have the time to do the things you want to do.
For years I had this mindset because I was caught in the busy trap.
“I’d love to learn the guitar but I don’t have time.”
“I’d love to get out and do more adventure sports but I don’t have time.”
“I’d love to meet my friends for dinner more often but I don’t have time.”
Really?
Who am I the freaking president?
I can’t make dinner with a friend because I’m too busy?! Seriously?!
It makes me sick to think that this is how I lived not too many years ago.
How much time do you need to make to do things that are important to you? And why don’t you have the time?
Somehow Nick Cannon and Ryan Seacrest collectively host about three billion different shows between them. They have the same 24 hours in a day that we all do.
Some people will read this and think that they’re different, their situation is unlike anyone else’s, they’re the unique snowflakes that their mom’s told them they were.
But it’s the bullshit you tell yourself because deep down we all fear change and we all fear the realization that what we’re doing might be wrong or that there might be a better way.
I met a friend for dinner recently and talked about why our other buddy couldn’t be there. He was stuck in the busy trap and thought that by skipping out on meals with friends he’d get more done. He won’t.
Been there and done that plenty of times so I get the mindset and can totally relate.
How can you commit to dinner next Tuesday night with your buddies when you don’t know what types of work emergencies will come up?
Your buddies will always be there.
Until they’re not.
Just like your hobbies.
You’ll always regret not taking those windsurfing or piano lessons.
You’ll never regret spending those four hours at work each day.
So how do you break free?
Accept the fact that most people who work an 8-12 hour day only get about four hours of productive work done. Tim Ferris addressed this in The 4 Hour Work Week. Read it.
Then start to batch tasks and use timers to increase your productivity. Set your three most important tasks each morning and don’t get distracted until they’ve been completed.
Stop the obsessive checking in and measuring. Limit email.
Like Seth Godin says, set your ship date then ship, no matter what.
Delegate and outsource what you can. Even the small things.
Like writing your own workouts. That’s a waste of time. Outsource that to a seasoned professional. That’s what thousands of successful people do as members of The Renegade Strength Club.
That way there’s no second-guessing and obsessing over it. You get brand new, expertly written training programs each month and it frees up more of your day to live the life you want.
So you’re not wasting your time trying to piece together some shit breeder workout from from reading 47 different fitness expert’s websites.
The more you can take off your plate the more it allows you to fill your schedule with other stuff you’d want to do.
And believe it or not, that’s actually one of the biggest secrets to getting more done- filling your schedule. But that’s another topic for another day, which I will address soon.
I don’t know about you, but when I was living in the busy trap I’d always hear the words of Freddie Mercury ringing in my ears…
“I want to break free.”
It’s time to do so.
PS. What are you doing right now that you should stop doing? How can you be better at time management and prioritizing your life? Let me know in the comments section below.
