The Life of a Do-Too-Mucher

Posted byLori Posted onMay 9, 2011 Comments17

Are you a do-too-mucher?

Do you say yes to everything? Do you fill your days, jam-packed, without even trying or being aware of it? Do you want to do it all? Be the hero…? Make sure all people like you? Are you helpful and motivated and enthusiastic for life?

If you answered yes to a good portion of these questions, it’s ok. You’re just like me. ๐Ÿ˜‰

In all seriousness, this isn’t a negative thing, it just means you might be a Do-Too-Mucher (and possibly a people-pleaser).

I sure know I am.

I try my best to fill my day, week, month, year, life with all I can. Most of the time I don’t even realize I’ve taken on way too much until I’m immersed in a sea of stress, just trying to doggy paddle my way through each event.

I’m not sure I even know how to be Do-Much-Lesser, but I know it’s worth striving for. Sure, having things to do and goals to meet is a wonderful, life-fulfilling thing. But there is a point of over-doing it. Just like in exercise, your body and mind need rest.

In not really knowing where I’m going with this little rant of mine, I’m offering you some suggestions on scratching off some of the to-do list. And hopefully you can offer some suggestions of your own!

My own example of doing too much includes the following on most of my days:

  • Training clients x 2
  • Train myself (lifting!)
  • Shower + get to work on time
  • Put in 8+ hours at work + blog reading/commenting
  • Recipe making (and dinner…)
  • Picture taking
  • Blogging
  • Sorting through emails
  • Reading (hopefully)
  • Breathing (?)
  • Sleep

Along with this nice list of daily activities, I am trying to create my own business, enter blog recipe contests, stay sane, plan a trip to Arizona for a family vacation in Sedona then meet and hike the Grand Canyon with Katie and Kelly!!!!), eat, grocery shop, have a social life… the list never seems to stop. In a good way, but still.

Lindsay at Cotter Crunch nailed it with one of her posts. Instead of piling up rigid goals, she strives for opportunity growth, daily challenges, and focuses throughout life. I love this idea since it takes off all of the stress and deadlines and offers (as she awesomely put it) “wiggle room”. ๐Ÿ™‚

And then there is this post, from Zen Habits. Wonderful, wonderful resource. One of Zen Habits’ Four Commandments even states: Do Less.

It’s not about being unproductive, it’s about using Simple Productivity which, in my eyes, sounds a whole lot better than doing way too much, poorly, or half-assed. In the words of the Zen Habits’ post,

“Do Less, but make every action count. Send fewer emails, but make them important. Write fewer words, but make each word essential. Really consider the impact of every action you take, and see if you can eliminate some actions. See if you can achieve a great impact doing less. This doesnโ€™t mean โ€œless is moreโ€. It means โ€œless is betterโ€.”

Sounds great to me!

I just enjoy this.

 

Instead of piling my pate with this and that and more of this, I’m going to try to fill my days with important things. Simplifying my endeavors to what I want most instead of just trying to do all of it. I’m going to try to spend more time doing things that I enjoy and relaxing just a bit on getting it all done. Because it really doesn’t all need to get done right now. ๐Ÿ™‚

I’m going to try to pick and chose my battles a little better and learn to do less.

What are your actions (or tips) for not doing too much?

 

Affirmation of the Day:
“What I want for myself, The Universe wants for me.”

Follow and like:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share
Category

17 People reacted on this

  1. My boyfriend always says this to me “do less”. I never sit down n relax. Ever!

  2. Definitely take that break and bring it back to reality! It’s so important to get back to your soul at least once each day.

    I got some Coconut Cream concentrate! What should I do with it?

  3. love this idea, for me I find myself saying yes to many things, and spreading myself thin. But love the Zen idea…do less but with more thought and power!

  4. I think taking the time to be “lazy” once in a while is just as important as being productive and getting things done. A simplified life, or even just a simplified day here and there for some clarity and sanity is so important! And that way you’ll have way more physical AND mental energy to dedicate to the things that really matter the most.

  5. You are a busy girl!! Lots to do and never stopping ๐Ÿ™‚ I love the zen habits, “do less but make every action count” Sooo true!!

  6. i’ve learned that, deep down, i know what i should & shouldn’t do. i just focus in, and ask myself, “does this feel hot or cold?” in other words, is this what i know i should be doing or is this something i ultimately know i don’t need/shouldn’t do. i’ve used this so many times & it’s helped me a lot (prevented one MAJOR potential misstep of calling an ex – haha).
    love the affirmation!

  7. stop reading my Google calendar… ๐Ÿ™‚ I read this at the same time that I got an email asking me to do just oooooone more thing. Definitely time for more productive and less busy.

  8. this was awesome. I love the zen approach. I am going to print that out!

  9. bahaha your bullet list of your day is EXACTLY like mine. I’m constantly on the move and have the most strict schedule of anyone I know. I am making steps to correct it though. Just a couple more months and things should be simplified. Not less busy, but less places/things I have to focus on. I think it’s the constant go-go-go to a billion different places that bothers me the most. I’m TOTALLY there with you.

  10. You know this post title just screamed out at me, as did the people pleaser bit. That’s me! I’m working on it. I have come up with my own disclaimer when people try to make me feel bad for saying no that goes something like “Look. I am letting a lot of people down at this juncture in my life, but with work and school I just physically cannot do it all and stay sane. I hope you can understand that.” Some do, some don’t. The ones that don’t? Um, eff them. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  11. Great post!!

    I am a somewhat reformed people-pleaser. To change, I had to find empowerment in saying no — now I relish my chance to turn projects down as opposed to agonizing over how to squish it all in!

  12. Great post, as always ๐Ÿ™‚
    When I’m in school I really tend to let things pile up!! I avoid stress and disaster of piling things by simply doing things when I think of them. For example instead of doing school work on the weekends, I do them the day they are assigned to get them out of the way. There’s no time like the present right?? Its also alll about realizing what you can handle and not being afraid to say NO. You don’t always have to go to every event, party or occasion. You don’t always have to offer to make the food, party favors or invites. Know what you can handle and go from there!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. Yes, I definitely take on more than I can handle…then I end up burning and crashing. Less is DEFINITELY more.

  14. Oh, I love the Little Miss and Mr. books! ๐Ÿ™‚

    When I’m really busy, I try to schedule in downtime or me time. So for instance, in college, I always tried to take Sunday afternoon off to do something I wanted to do, like hike or go to the beach. Once in awhile I couldn’t take the time off (usually if I was in an opera or something), but the majority of the time I could do it, and I think it was really important for avoiding burn-out.

    Like you said, I also try to prioritize what absolutely must get done and/or what’s really important to me, and mostly focus on achieving that.

  15. Oh how I love this! Less is better. Yes in so many ways, just like quality is better than quantity. I am a believer in this for sure and try to never spread myself so thin that I am unable to give my full effort to each item.

  16. I love what Zen habits has to say about it. So true. I think in general doing less, wanting less, etc is a good thing.

Comments are closed.