Simplification

I'm just going to say it... as Americans, most of us are TOO BUSY! There's probably not many people out there who would disagree with me. It's a little bit of a mystery to me why we all naturally pack our lives so incredibly full of things to do, to the point of being literally, overloaded.

It's almost like we have too much to do to actually stop and enjoy life. Don't get me wrong, I think it's good to be "busy" enough that we're providing for ourselves and our families & being productive citizens. And we've all seen the graffiti that was put up by people who I assume don't have enough to do.  But is the quantity of life, in a way, destroying our quality of life?

A potential danger of overloading our lives and setting so many intense expectations for ourselves, is that we increase our likelihood of burnout and for some, depression. I assume that this is obvious to most people but why are so many affected by depression with the numbers of those affected constantly rising? Check out any of the statistics on depression; it may surprise you!  Supposedly, everyone will at some time in their life be affected by depression, whether it's their own or interacting with someone else dealing with it. We can change that statement and the statistics! We don't have to settle for a life doomed to feeling overloaded and depressed.

From the book Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and it's all small stuff, by Richard Carlson. I love the chapter called "Remind Yourself that When You die, Your 'In Basket' Won't be Empty." I love his perspective. "So many of us live our lives as if the secret purpose is to somehow get everything done. We stay up late, get up early, avoid having fun, and keep our loved ones waiting... Often, we convince ourselves that our obsession with our 'to do' list is only temporary--that once we get through the list, we'll be calm, relaxed, and happy. But in reality, this rarely happens. As items are checked off, new ones simply replace them."

He goes on to say, "The nature of your 'in basket' is that its meant to have items to be completed in it--it's not meant to be empty. There will always be phone calls that need to be made, projects to complete, and work to be done... Regardless of who you are or what you do, however, remember that nothing is more important  than your own sense of happiness and inner peace and that of your loved ones. If you're obsessed with getting everything done, you'll never have a sense of well-being! In reality, almost everything can wait. Very little in our work lives truly falls into the 'emergency' category." I love that he said "almost everything can wait," because it can, yet we too often convince ourselves otherwise. 

So you don't have to make time later, take a minute right now to think about some of the unnecessary things you do every day/week/month. Can any of them be eliminated or put on a list of "things to do at another time" so that you can simplify and maximize your satisfaction with life right now?