“When you say ‘yes’ to others, make sure you’re not saying ‘no’ to yourself.” — Paulo Coelho
Are you a “yes” person whose to-do list grows longer by the minute?
Are your days so jam-packed taking care of others you feel you don’t have time to breathe, let alone read a book, work on a passion project or enjoy a little “me time?”
You might simply accept your hectic schedule as “it is what it is,” or try to deny the fact that you’re headed toward burnout.
The truth is, it’s time to change things up by saying “no” and giving things up (at least for right now!) for the sake of your own health and happiness.
“Sounds nice, but … how???” You may be wondering …
We get it.
The hard core truth is too often we think we can’t not do everything on our to-do list, but there’s always something that can wait until tomorrow, next week, next month or even next year.
There’s always something that you don’t really have to do even when you think you should.
There’s always something we can say “no” to.
When you’re feeling overwhelmed and in need of white space in your calendar, take a pen to your to-do list and cross out anything you don’t absolutely have to do.
Next, ask yourself, is this “to-do” necessary to do today? If not, move it to another week, month or even year.
(Can you feel the relief?!)
Take an honest look at some of those self-imposed tasks on your list. Do you have a glaring project staring back at you, like “Finally start that healthy baby blog” or “Create an Instagram account for my adorable dog … and post every day!”
Sometimes big projects on our plates cause us stress rather than excitement — doing us more harm than good.
There’s a chance they’re not crossed off for a reason, so get real with yourself and ask if you still care about it?
Maybe it’s something that once appealed to you, but you’ve grown out of the idea, or perhaps you’ve come to realize it’s just not a good use of your time.
Give yourself permission to let it go and move on. You’ll free yourself up to focus on projects you really do want to accomplish, that make your heart race when you think about them.
Once you give up a few things and get comfortable saying “no” to additional things, pay attention to how you feel. Chances are, you’ll appreciate that you can catch your breath and turn some attention to your own well-being.
Yes, there’s a certain satisfaction in taking on the world and doing it all, but it’s not nearly as satisfying as enjoying yourself and your life as much as possible.
Do yourself a favor and stop doing those things that weigh you down and instead create white space for other things that bring you joy.
You’re worth it!
Quote du jour
“Sometimes our stop-doing list needs to be bigger than our to-do list.” — Patti Digh
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