We all get busy from time to time. Yet, at other times, the busy life never seems to end. Your to-do list can make you feel overwhelmed and harried.
It can involve meeting work deadlines or church and social commitments. Busyness can also involve taking care of your kids or organizing and cleaning your home.
Unfortunately, continuous busyness can take a toll on your mental and physical health. It can lead to burnout, sadness, disappointment, stress, poor health, sleeplessness, guilt, anxiety and depression.
Excessive busyness can also affect relationships both at work and at home. It can affect your ability to engage in meaningful connections.
With that in mind, it is evident that being busy can prevent you from living a fulfilling life. So, it is important that you slow down and take control of your life.
In this article, you are going to gain insights on how to overcome busyness. Please keep reading.
How to Cope with a Busy Life
Say “No”
Do you often say “yes” when you know you should have said “no”? Well, many people often have trouble saying “no.” It’s often difficult for some people to slow down and take a rest.
Also, there are those who always jump in to rescue someone who looks troubled. But, learning to say no is important. It stops you from over-committing.
Learning to say “no” allows you to engage in things that are important to you. It allows you to make choices. For example, it is important that you learn to say no to people who are out to drain your energy. Also, always remember that not everything needs to be perfect.
You do not need to be serious every moment of your time. In essence, when you say no, you are saying yes to a better life.
Sleep well
You and many other people always push bedtime back to do extra work. What’s more, you may end up waking up early to finish incomplete tasks. Yet, sleep is very important.
It improves your mood, mental health, physical health and makes you look better. Also, adequate rest helps you to think more clearly.
Inadequate sleep can have adverse health and behavioral effects. It can increase your risk for developing obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart attack.
It can make you crave for alcohol or caffeine to stay awake. So, it is important that you learn to manage your time so that you can get adequate sleep.
Create time for relationships
It is normal to have a lot of things on your to do list. What’s more, the list may consist of things that will help you achieve your goals in life. Yet, you need to devote your time to things that matter such as relationships.
To live a full life, you need to engage in meaningful communication with your loved ones. Being in the presence of loved ones can make a big difference in your life.
Creating time for family and friends is a way of reminding them that you still care. It can include being a good listener or giving them a call when they least expect.
Besides, you need to accept their faults and give them whatever support they need. A good way of keeping your family and friends first is by creating a tradition.
You need to make time for a meal, conversation or gathering with friends.
Meditate
Meditation is getting a lot of attention because of its benefits for busiest people. Meditation can improve your life. For instance, it trains your mind to resist distraction and temptation.
Distractions may include emails, social media, and youtube videos, among others. It enables you to ignore such distractions and focus your attention on a task.
Besides, regular mindful meditation relieves stress and improves your health. It also improves memory, and prevents feelings of depression and anxiety.
Meditation can also make you feel happier and satisfied. Thus, during your hustle and bustle, you need to make mindfulness meditation a priority.
Seek Counselling
Working hard can cause chaos in your life and mind. It can leave you with no time for self-care. As a result, you may feel restless, stressed, anxious, bored or even depressed.
If that is how you feel, you can talk about it with a qualified and licensed therapist. Online counselling is particularly good for people with a busy lifestyle.
Therapy enables you to cope with stress. It also gives you an opportunity to vent about the difficult stuff you’re going through. What’s more, you get professional support from a trusted counsellor.
So, if you have burnout, for instance, you can talk to an online therapist when it is convenient for you. Psychotherapy is a good way of taking care of your mental health and emotions.
Set Priorities
Ability to balance demands and priorities is an important skill for busy person. Priorities refer to anything you want to do. Demands refer to tasks that other people need you to do.
The idea is to create balance so that you can have a more effective life. You need to re-evaluate how you use your time. For instance, do you spend time doing things that are important to you or to others?
Setting priorities helps you to pay attention to goals you need to fulfill. It also helps you to focus on people in your life. Thus, creating a pros and cons list will help to ensure that you’re focused and doing what you love.
Exercise every morning or evening
Having a busy life tends to deter you from sleeping, let alone exercising. Yet, you need to squeeze in some yoga, jogging or walking whenever possible. Creating time to exercise will go a long way to reduce burnout and stress.
In addition, taking a brisk walk every morning is critical. It helps to increase your motivation and energy levels for the day ahead. It helps to boost your focus, performance, and productivity.
So, you need to try and exercise for at least 30 minutes each day, preferably morning hours. You can consider scheduling your working out session in your calendar or dairy.
Having it in your diary helps to ensure you plan your day around it. You can also commit to work out with someone else. It makes it harder to cancel because you do not want to disappoint the other person.
Parting Shot!
It is okay to be busy. However, you need to make it a habit to take care of yourself when you are busy. Self-care is not only essential, but necessary for good health.
