9 Possible Reasons Why You Are Too Busy

In the “old days” when you asked someone how they were doing, you typically received a smile, a warm thought, maybe the latest on family or friends or a shared interest. These days, if you ask someone how they are doing the first thing you hear is how busy they are. If that describes you, then here is a bit of food for thought — 9 possible reasons why you might find yourself too busy:

1. You haven’t taken the time to put first things first.

Sometimes we find ourselves busy trying to control everything. The simple solution is to be faithful doing the tasks we are given and trusting God to provide the rest.

Again, to restate — this isn’t sitting around doing nothing. But being faithful in doing those things that we know we are supposed to be doing.

This begins at the beginning with putting God first. It also involves trusting in His provision for those things that we do not have any control over in the first place!

The best way to put God first is to commit to spending time each day in His word.

Making Scripture Study a Priority
“Keeping the first thing the first thing will smooth out even the most uneven days. When we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all the rest will be added unto us.”

2. You haven’t determined your priorities.

There are certain things we know we are supposed to do. If we have children, for example, it is a no-brainer that we are supposed take care of their needs. If we are married, our husband will have first place among humans on earth.

What are your priorities?

Once we determine our priorities then we have to live a life that reflects them. This is actually a good thing:

It keeps us from taking on things that, while they scream the loudest, simply don’t fit above other priorities.
It helps us to weigh current needs, doing a triage of sorts to determine what needs to happen next.

The Cure to Being Overwhelmed
“If we haven’t accomplished all that we want at home, perhaps we can take a closer look at how we do spend our time. Perhaps there are activities, inside and outside the home, that can be put aside, at least for a time, as we reconsider our priorities.”

3. You haven’t taken the time to create a schedule.

Once we know our priorities we have to create a schedule that reflects them. Otherwise, the thing that seems to weigh the most heavily will get the most time.

Time is a limited resource. To make the best of it we need to create a schedule that reflects those things in our lives that need to come first. Then once we have all of those things in place, we can schedule blocks of time to deal with the other things in life.

Summer School for Mom: Creating a Schedule
“You’ll need to find a way of scheduling that matches your personality. If a chart with every hour blocked off drives you crazy, you’ll need to find a different way of scheduling your day. Likewise, if running by the seat of your pants leaves you feeling like you are not accomplishing anything, grab a planner and get started!”

6 Tips for Creating a Workable Schedule
Simple.

4. You haven’t scheduled margin.

If we over-schedule, we’ll have a very hard time dealing with the interruptions and unplanned events that occur each and every day.

In public schools and colleges, classes end around 10–15 minutes before the hour. That extra 10–15 minutes in the hour is necessary to allow the students to pass from one class to the next, shove some food in their face, or simply get a drink of water.

We also need margin. Particularly in a homeschool day, there will be phone calls that need to be made, appointments that will come up, sudden “emergencies” that will need to be handled.

By planning for the unplannable, we will have an easier time flexing with the day.

5. You haven’t learned to say no to even good things.

Good, better, best.

Some things simply have to fall to the wayside — no matter how good they may be — just to find the time to focus on the better … or best!

6. You are battling pride.

Quick illustrative example. We train our children to do a chore. Of course their initial efforts will not look like our accomplished perfection.

What does that sound like?

That certainty in our minds that assures us that we are the only ones who can possibly do IT — whatever IT is — is rooted in … you guessed it. Pride.

7. You are too distracted.

Have you noticed the amazing the number of people we encounter these days that don’t appear to have eyes? We only see the tops of their heads as they spend their time interacting in an electronic world completely impervious to the world around them.

Electronic gadgets can certainly be a necessary distraction.

One easy solution is to plan for time to check traffic on various accounts. We can allot a specific amount of time at one or two specific times of the day to the task. When the time is up — we move on.

8. You’ve developed lazy habits.

I know, this one is rather counterintuitive, but bear with me.

Are we busy or fruitful?

Being too busy is often a cover for avoidance. Yes, we are busy — doing a variety of things — but simply to avoid the thing we’d rather not do. Sound familiar?

Busyness Instead of Fruitfulness
“Our lives are overflowing with active responsibilities, many times leaving us feeling as if we are in constant motion, but only spinning our wheels. So yes, we are certainly busy. But are our lives fruitful?”

10 Ideas for Overcoming Lazy Habits
“It usually sneaks up on us, perhaps as a result of a temporary illness, or change in routine. Before we know it we have assumed lazy habits.