Busy as a Bee

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Do you ever find yourself flitting around from one thing to the next, always busy but rarely finishing anything completely? Yeah, me too. We find so many things to do that we are constantly busy. We find ourselves working on first one task then another task pushes in and interrupts us, so we try to give the new task some attention. Before either of the tasks can be given enough time and attention to get them completed, we find something else that demands our time.

Have you ever watched bees flying around? They seem fairly focused most of the time and if something chases them off task, they come right back to it. I recently found the time to sit still and just watch the bees around the cabin we stayed in for a week. I found myself fascinated and almost mesmerized by them. I decided to try to take some video of them. I was shocked that I didn’t mind having them fly around because I am usually afraid of bees because I am allergic to bee stings. These bees didn’t seem scary at all. They rarely came near me, but always seems to be plentiful around the exterior of the cabin.

If you have a similar problem with these busy carpenter bees tunneling into your wooden deck or around your house, you can make traps. See how here.

Seriously though, if you find yourself busy as a bee, what will you do to get everything demanding your attention done? Well, first take the time to do a brain dump where you list everything on your mind that needs to be done. Make notes about due dates where appropriate. Keep at it until everything is dumped onto the page.

Now, read over your list and look for things that can go on a do it someday list because they really don’t have to be done anytime soon, but you were afraid you would forget if you didn’t keep them in mind. Put an S next to those items and then write them onto a list called SOMEDAY.

Look at what is left. What needs to be done today? Put a T next to those items and make a new list called TODAY. Now I am betting there is still quite a list left. What do you do with those? Put a 3 next to anything that needs to be done in the next 3 days, and you guessed it, start a new list called NEXT 3 DAYS.

See how your list is already getting kind of organized? There are a few more items on the original brain dump if I don’t miss my guess. Look at those and think about who else might be able to handle these tasks for you. Could one of you kids help out, maybe a partner or spouse? Now I’m not saying to dump it all on others, but if you really need help and are in over your head, don’t be afraid to ask for help. The worst they can do is refuse.

Get your planner, bullet journal, or calendar of choice out and find times when you could work the rest of the list into your schedule, but remember not to add them to the next 3 days or today, because you already have lists for those days. How did so many tasks get added to your plate?

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You may want to consider reading the book, How to Say No Without Feeling Guilty: And Say Yes to More Time, More Joy, and What Matters Most to You by Patti Breitman and Connie Hatch. You will likely find this as helpful as I did when I read it years ago. You might want to consider decluttering the tasks and activities that don’t bring you joy and let someone else have the pleasure of learning they can do those things. Now you might be saying to yourself that nobody can do them as well as you, but if you were abducted by aliens suddenly or dropped dead, heaven forbid, those things would either get done by someone else or be declared unnecessary real fast. No matter how hard we try to convince ourselves otherwise, none of us is irreplaceable.

Get through your current list and consider saying no to new things that try to add themselves to your already overcrowded schedule. You will be glad you did!

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