This is a guest post from Aaron Morris aka Sir Scrapalot, who shares tips for scrapbooking productivity with Simple Scrapper readers once a month!
Letting go is one of those phrases that seems to haunt us all of our lives. When something is bothering us, inevitably someone will advise us to “let it go.” If you are like me, and have young children, the idea of “letting them go” is pretty much present from the moment those little ones arrive. We won’t even talk about being “let go” from a job…see, the thing is this idea of “letting go” has such negative feelings attached to it, it’s hard to believe that it really can be a lifesaver sometimes.
It the time management scheme of things, “letting go” is one of the best things you can do. We all load so much onto our plates, we take on so many tasks, give ourselves so much to work on that there is no way we can come out on top. We find ourselves consistently behind the eight ball, fighting for air. When I get this feeling, I know it’s time to start thinking about letting go.
Take a minute and list out all the responsibilities you have right now. This is how I usually start out with my “letting go” process. Start looking at that list, what things are the most important? Cross them off the list. Which things are the ones you are most excited about? Cross them off the list too. What things will be the most beneficial to you? Cross them off the list too. What’s left on the list? Those things, the things left on the list, are the things that you need to think about letting go of.
Sometimes it’s easy – you just don’t do the project you had planned on doing. More often than not, it’s a lot more difficult to let go of some of your responsibilities, especially when they involve someone else. It’s so hard to tell someone else no, but in reality, you have to think about yourself. Would you be able to give this project your all? Would you be happy doing it? If the answer to either is no, you have to be honest with yourself and the other parties and say, “I just don’t think I can do that right now.” I’ve had to do this, and I will tell you it’s not fun. It upset me a lot because I felt like I was letting people down.
As I step away from the situations though, I see that it was the best thing I could do to improve my time management, and my well being. I challenge you to give this a shot yourself.
Two thoughts:
1. It’s a mistake to think that if you don’t do it nobody will. We fall into that trap. Often other people aren’t stepping up because you always do it. You have to leave to create a vacuum to suck someone else into the spot. OR maybe it is something that doesn’t really need doing, is past its time, should be retired.
2. Best advice I’ve heard is that you can’t MAKE time for things. Only God can MAKE time, and he seems to feel he’s made plenty. All you can do is choose how you SPEND your time. If we can prioritize how we spend our money, why not how we spend our time too? When you’re listing things, also make a list of what’s most important to you. We all say Family, God… etc. Then look at your listed activities and draw a line to one of those priorities. You should have more lines to the things on top than the things on bottom. If you don’t, it’s time to rethink.