Why Being Busy Is Overrated

I'm going to be a little bit real with you right now.

I've got a lot going on.

I work full time, the GAB has a couple shows coming up, we just had some home updates in the last week or so, and fall is right around the corner. Plus a few birthdays, oh, and Elliot's starting his last semester of school pretty soon (Praise Jesus, but also, 3 more months of UGH).

All in all, I'm a little bit busy. Which is fine, we all get busy during different seasons, and that's normal.

Here's what's not normal.

I don't cut myself a break just because I'm busy. I could have the most hectic week in the world and barely see my husband for more than 10 minutes a day, but I will get so stressed if the laundry isn't done. Or if I don't have a dinner plan every night that week. Or if there's junk left on my counter top. Or if I can see dog hair in my living room.

I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again.

I am a crazy person.

Yes, I'm working on it. I promise.

But it's a struggle. If there are things that need to be done, I fixate on them until the house is perfect, and let me tell you, there are always things that need to be done. It's a never ending list.

A very wise person once asked me "Rebekah, if you fell off a building, what would you be thinking about as you were falling? Would you really be worried about if your laundry was folded?"

No, I wouldn't.

I would think about Elliot, and I would hope I told him I loved him that day. I would think about my family, my friends, my precious girls. The laundry wouldn't even cross my mind, because you know what?

It doesn't matter.

Do I like leaving dishes in the sink? No, of course not. But if it happens, it doesn't hurt anyone. Sometimes I get behind on things, and that's okay.

This week, I'm behind on everything. I'm not kidding, I do not have it together this week. I forgot about grocery shopping, didn't plan (or prep) a single meal for this week, didn't work out, and I didn't clean my house. There are so many things that I usually get done on the weekend that I didn't get to and it didn't exactly give me a head start on this week.

Life happens, and there are only so many hours in a day. Personally, I'd like to spend them doing something that actually matters.

Like pancakes on Saturday mornings. They matter.

I used to pack my weekends full of things to do. I would get up earlyish on Saturdays to clean or do chores before heading out to an event or some other engagement. When the pandemic started, that was the thing that I was happiest to see go. As much as I love going out and attending events, I much prefer not being so busy all the time.

This is new for me, because I'm a planner. I'm super organized and I like to plan things out, down to the details. However, making so many plans that there isn't even time to relax on the weekend is ridiculous. There is a time and a place for making plans, but I've found that I really don't like being so busy that I’m planning every day of my life down to the minute.

Even though I'm a planner, I love not making plans.

This past weekend, I didn't have any plans whatsoever. Let me tell you what happened when I finally left my schedule wide open.

I invited my family over for a last minute pizza night. My mom somehow made 4 side dishes in a matter of hours, and we had a really nice night just hanging out and playing games.

I have been wanting new photos for the rebrand, and Elliot was available to do a little photoshoot for me. I'm so happy with how they turned out.

My best friend invited us for dinner and because I was free, I was able to hang out with her and her adorable son.

Somehow, even though I may feel like I didn't "get anything done" this weekend, everything is still standing. It was a significantly more meaningful use of my time, and let's be honest, we will never have "enough" time.

I like knowing my Saturdays and Sunday afternoons are free. I like being able to say “I’d like to do (insert activity here), I can do that on Saturday”, rather than “I’d like to do that thing, I’ll have to find a time to do it”.

I can spend my life running around like a crazy person doing 1,000 things, or I can choose what I really want to do, and only plan those things. The rest of the time is mine to enjoy some peace and quiet, spend with a loved one, or take a solo trip to Marshall’s, just because. The ability protect my time to do that is just so, freeing.

There will always be something that needs to be done. My house will never be "perfect", because I live there. I'm a hot mess, and I can't expect myself to keep up with a never-ending list of chores and not go crazy.

This morning, I pulled my jeans out of a hamper of clean clothes that came out of the dryer last night. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s one of those weeks, and who actually cares? My laundry is still not folded, but I got a workout in this morning, and I feel really good about that.

If I’m falling off a building, it’s not going matter, anyway.