Lately, I’ve been running into a lot of busy people. Too busy to stop and talk, too busy to answer their phone, too busy to get this or that done, too busy to pay attention and on and on..

What’s it all about? I get that it is almost summer, one of the busiest times of the year, and everyone is buzzing around trying to enjoy it.

I’m busy too. But not so busy that I’m a busy body.

I like my rest and my peace. I’ve developed a way to get the things in my life done by way of an order of importance priority list.

My priorities:

1. Family–hubby & kitty
2. Work
3. Bills, managing investments, home admin, appointments, and household shopping (I’m in charge of all things finance, inventoring/ordering household stuff) making and attending all appts. related to car, cat, and apartment, all cleaning/maintaining of our home.
4. Homebased businesses–selling online (eBay, Etsy, and Poshmark)
5. Volunteer work–(garden, shelter)
6. Editing work
7. Hobbies-walking, biking, gardening, reading, watching movies, and thrifting/antiquing
8. Social media–YouTube channels, Blogging, Instagram, Facebook

Years and years ago, I was one of those people with too much to do who was constantly trying to catch up. I was also one of those people who would sacrifice all things fun because that is how I was raised. My father was the prime example of someone who wouldn’t leave the farm if there was work to do. Hence, he never really left the farm. Gone at 61, his life was a masterpiece of non-stop work. I was heading in that direction, and to this day, I’ve not entirely mastered the art of not being a busy body. Setting priorities has helped in that they point me in the right direction for the things in my life that are most important. It’s not to say that selling on eBay isn’t important to me. It is. But if I have something to do for my full-time work and something to do for eBay, my full-time work comes first. Then, before the day ends, I will complete whatever I need to do for eBay. I am one of those people, and I think that I always will be, who would rather get things done today than put them off until tomorrow. With this way of thinking, one must incorporate a stop sign in their mind, and up it goes when you’ve done enough (realistically, not in your mind) for the day. I think one of the biggest things that I’ve always tried to avoid is disappointing people and myself. In my quest to make everyone and everything feel that they were equally important, I always risked ending up making nothing feel important. Thankfully, I decided to set priorities in order of importance, focus on the most important each day, and work my way down. It’s never to say that things at the bottom of my list are not important, but rather to say that those things will have to wait until I attend to my full-time work and other priorities. I am a very efficient person, so all of my priorities are taken care of on a daily, every other day, or once a week basis. If it’s not getting taken care of, then it’s not a priority. It is very important to make that distinction. If you have things in your life that you aren’t getting to, then you haven’t prioritized them. Essentially, they are not important enough for you to address. If, in fact, they are, but they’re falling through the cracks, prioritize them. If, in fact, they are not, then you will need to walk away. People nowadays, maybe they always did, equate busy with success. In their minds, not being busy 24/7 means they aren’t relevant. I know this is going to sound flippant, but for your own sanity, don’t buy into this. The same people who feel this way and make every attempt to stay relevant, etc., are the same people you’ll witness crashing and burning repeatedly. These same people will start and stop every single time that they burn out. They will make excuses and promises every time they fail to meet deadlines or let something that was “very important to them” die a slow death due to neglect. You do you, and let people who equate busyness with success figure it out themselves. I hope this helps anyone struggling with being a busy body.

..

Until next time,🐝 well.