First, be grateful. Your life is full. It’s virtually impossible to have too much to do in the modern world without having meaningful relationships. Oftentimes, I have too much to do because I have a wife, and four kids. And I want to spend time with a close friend. And I have a team at work that I support. And beyond them, customers.
All of these things are blessings.
Second, put off less important tasks. Some of the things on your list are not important. Some are just less important. Where possible, move those to be done after the more important things. If the less important stuff can be moved to another day, one where you won’t be as busy, then do that.
One thing to note when deferring. Do you consistently put off a task, day to day, and never seem to get around to it? Stop it! Stop deferring it. Either schedule it much later, when you know you’ll have time (or when you know it will feel urgent). Or mentally take it off your list of things you feel the need to do. If you consistently put it off, it’s probably because you don’t really need to do it.
And of course, if reading that made you realize it is important, then it’s time to stop putting it off. Maybe you just need to break it down into a smaller first step, in order to get some momentum.
Third, delegate. Remember how you’re grateful for all of the relationships that you have? If they are healthy, then there will be things you can delegate. Obviously, some of your plans involve strengthening those relationships, which can’t be delegated. But some are just work items that need doing. If you can arrange for your spouse to pick up the kids from school on a particularly busy day, great. If you can pass a work assignment on to a subordinate who will do a good job and benefit from the trust you’re showing in them, awesome.
Still feel overwhelmed?
Fourth, quit. Look long and hard at the commitments you have. Making a conscious decision to give up one of those, and accept the consequences, can be a brave choice. By giving up something of lesser value, you can do what is required for success in other areas of your life. Stretching yourself thin is a surefire way to fail.
Still not sure what to do?
Just like daily planning can bring to light issues like this, daily journaling can be an important step in resolving them. Once you’ve made daily planning habitual, I highly recommend adding journal writing to the list of things you do each day. It can help you take a look at issues like having too much to do, and think through the why’s and brainstorm solutions.
You could even add journal writing as part of a Cue script so it gets added to your daily plan automagically.
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