Stop the Glorification of Busy

Nowadays, a lot of our purpose is found in how many tests we have in a week or how late we had to stay at work. The sign of a successful week is a clean inbox and dark under-eye circles. The “man, she’s a hard worker” remark goes to the girl in the library until 3 a.m. and not the girl who set aside her work at 8 p.m. to spend time with her family or get some much needed rest.

I’ve been guilty of this. Totally.

I’ve been throwing myself into my work lately and the creative aspect of it is great. This year, I’ve written so much more and I’ve really been able to express myself through life’s crazy changes and I totally love that. However, I think some days or weeks I get caught up in the crazy business of it all, and I attempt to let my inbox feed my soul and the amount of work I’ve done be my motivation. But…that just leaves me drained and stressed.

Cameron saw me fading a few weeks ago and pointed out to a tearful me that “you have to have a life to have a lifestyle blog.”

So, the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to have a life. I’ve been giving myself time to relax, time to do fun things, and I’ve been leaving work for designated work times.

I’ve felt a lot better and a lot fuller, so – as I love to do – I’m sharing my tips for how to slow down and stop the glorification of being “busy” today:

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Have mandatory morning quiet time

I wake up at 5:45, wash my face, put on moisturizer, and put on a little mascara. I make my breakfast (oats and fruit with some hot lemon water) as fast as I can so that I can take it upstairs and start detoxing. I turn on my essential oils diffuser (I usually do a mix of lavender and lemon…it’s calming and refreshing at the same time) and my twinkle lights and just watch Netflix. I do not check emails. I do not check social media. And I do not start blogging.

Previously, I was using this first hour that I’m awake to try to be “productive” and get stuff done. I would read emails as my oats cooked, scroll through Instagram as I brushed my teeth, and maybe even get an entire homework assignment out of the way while it’s still dark out. But this left me drained by 10 a.m. and hateful towards my laptop as I felt like I’d been on it for ages.

Don’t open your laptop or apps until you’ve had some solid quiet time to yourself. You can’t fill the cups of others if you’re not full yourself.

Have a “do-later” to do list

If you’ve been following me at all for at least the past year or so, you know I love my to-do lists. I love them so much that I have two. One for the day and one for “when I get around to it”. Honestly, this will save you so much stress.

See, there are simply some things that really don’t need to be done today. However, you will get the satisfaction of getting them done today, so you’ll stress yourself out over making sure that one thing that can probably wait is taken care of.

No. Pump the brakes. Red light. Stop.

Ask “can this wait till tomorrow?” and put it on your “do-later” list. Things like vacuuming your room and fixing a broken link on a blog post you did seven months ago can definitely wait, contrary to popular belief. For this “do-later” list, I still aim to get those things done within the week, but I really don’t stress about them as much now that they are separate from my main priorities.

Say “no”

For many of us young adults, we are trained to say “yes” to everything. The amount of events, parties, and extra credit meetings you attend do not define you and don’t directly contribute to your success. Listen to more on this here in a previous episode of #askCWH.

Turn off the notifications

I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner. I turned off my notifications for all of my social media apps! I meant to just do it for a weekend when I was really feeling like I needed to unplug, but now it’s a permanent change that I’m loving. As a blogger, being present on social media can easily become a chore and not something that is a fun, social aspect of a 20-something’s life. Stopping to check everything that pings my phone just makes me feel busier and more stressed.

I don’t miss anything. After all, I’ll end up getting on Instagram several times a day just because I’m a 20 year old blogger and it’s basically a reflex. So don’t worry, I’ll see your comment or DM. It just won’t pop up on my screen and take away from me hustlin’ through my to-do list!

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Don’t work when you shouldn’t

Weekends. Birthday dinners. Date nights. Holidays.

Are you really going to answer that business-related email? Text? Twitter DM?

I’m a blogger, so the lines between what is business and what is just a simple email or notification is a bit blurry. But I’ve taken to not working on “business” over the weekend. I’ve read so many blog posts on how to be a successful and more productive blogger, and many (not all) suggest using the weekend to social schedule, write content, and optimize old blog posts. Why? So that you can work on other things during the week days.

Hmm…working hard when I shouldn’t be working so that I can work more later? Pass.

I do have to grab a couple hours from Friday afternoon or Sunday evenings to get Monday’s post in order, but I don’t go any further than that.

No matter how old you are, weekends are important. It’s important to close your laptop, leave your phone in your purse, and just be present. After all, you have Monday-Friday to stare at a small, bright screen. Give yourself a break! (Although you will see me on social media grammin’ pics and posting snaps about my weekend….because pictures or it didn’t happen.)

Which of these tips do you plan to try to slow down this week? I hope you have a stress free rest of the week and a restful weekend!

X,

Cristina