Being Busy... or Not So Much?

Today I realized that I'm a very busy person, or possibly I just view myself as a very busy person. I feel that I have a lot to do and not very much time to do it. This last week was rough: I was broke, almost out of food, there was fraud on my bank account, my weight hadn't budged for a couple weeks, and numerous other tiny things that always happen to everyone.

I'm not terrifically organized, and "things" always seem to pop up: fraud, problems or issues at work, fighting with boyfriend. I'm easily distracted. I haven't watered my poor, sun-starved aloe plant for about a week now. I haven't looked at my day planner for a few days, either.

I know I have plenty of time to get a lot of administrative tasks done, work, take care of my home (room), cook, eat, and sleep, but some days I feel like I don't get all of the blocks checked. For instance, I've been running around this morning after cooking breakfast and working out getting a snafu at work straightened out. (It's my day off!) Since I've gotten home, I've looked at the breakfast dishes, laundry, and other miscellaneous cleanups and just said "no".

How do people organize, prioritize, and get things done? In our multi-tasking society, we think we can and should be able to fit 25 hours worth of work in a 24 hour day. So we double-book, plan to do two, three, or more things at one time, and wonder why we're tired. I'm usually the first one to say "I'm tired" and beg off social events, work, and chores.

The things I think I need to learn from this are:
1. Prioritize tasks.
2. Do one thing at a time, and do it well.
3. Plan ahead and try to leave room for surprise tasks.
Honorable Mention: instead of saying "I'll do these two errands at the same time" say "I'll do these two errands on the same trip" or "I'll complete both of these tasks by this deadline".

Probably the key thing I've learned in my journey to "Git-R-Done" status (meaning being dependable and being on top of things) is to Relax, Evaluate, Change. First, if something goes awry, don't panic. Take a breath. For example, I missed an early-morning appointment. I phoned in, apologized, and rescheduled. I missed another early-morning appointment, and did the same thing I did the first time. Both were missed due to sleeping through my appointment time. So I evaluated my appointment times, and decided to change my preferred appointment time from early morning to later in the morning. This didn't require any official paperwork, just a small change in when I set my appointments. If you have a consistent problem with something in your life, like forgetting to pay a bill, evaluate why you might be putting it off (no money in the paying account, acknowledging a failure to meet a financial goal), and try something new (setting up auto-pay with your bank, writing bills every week instead of once a month). Always give a change a couple of weeks to settle in, and re-evaluate. So far, my later-morning appointments have worked well.

I'm getting better at being busy, but I have a long way to go!