Simplifying my time

As the Queen of Overcommitment, I've finally hit a place in my life where I can accept that I do too much. I'm one of those people that when others look at my life, they say, "wow, I don't know how you do it."

Now you know why I've battled adrenal fatigue and the corresponding health issues.

For a long time, I've justified my time spent on so many activities in a variety of ways. But an email from someone supervising one of my volunteer positions really convicted me of all the time I spend doing stuff. She was basically praising me for my job, and encouraging me because I'm so visible and people really see and respect it, etc. All good things. But for some reason, I took a step back and thought, wait a second. Is this really what I want? Don't get me wrong, it was doing a good thing, and it was something I enjoy. There's nothing wrong with doing that job. Except there are a lot of other things that are important to me. A lot of other things I put off because I don't have the time.

And then I thought about all the things I'm doing to simplify elsewhere, and I realized that one of the greatest areas I need to simplify is my time. Part of it is because of some challenges we're having with my little one (and I really do intend to blog and share... eventually). Because we're doing some intensive work with her, I was told that I need to do more to make time for me. A suggestion I initially laughed at, but you know what? In all of this, I finally realized that I AM VALUABLE ENOUGH TO ALLOW MY TIME TO BE SPENT ON ME. Yes, I am shouting!! Because I think a lot of people I know (and read my blog) need to tell themselves the same thing.

We spend time on a lot of things we say are valuable. But we need to also recognize that we, our individual selves, are JUST AS VALUABLE.

I have decided, for 2012, that I will absolutely not have any commitments to long term volunteer obligations. I have resigned from every single volunteer position I have. Except one, but my term ends in February, so that's not a big deal. Instead, I am spending the time evaluating my time. Can I help out at the school bake sale? Certainly, but that decision will only come after I've had time to evaluate it in relation to the time I have available and whether or not it fits in with my greater priorities.

I've heard it said in church that the need isn't necessarily the call. Unfortunately, I've often fallen victim to the plea of  "but you're the only person who can do it." Or, "Please! We need you." That gets me every time. But my family needs me, my husband needs me, my God needs me, and, because I am important too, I need me. I've let the incessant whine of all these other things that need to get done interfere with getting done the things that matter to me. I'm not saying that those things aren't important. But they are getting in the way of the bigger picture.

Maybe this sounds crazy, or maybe this sounds like your life. But I'm so bogged down in all the other junk of life, that I've really lost sight of the things that matter to me. I do a lot of things without really knowing why I do them. So until I figure out what matters (beyond God, family, and me), I'm simply not doing it. As hard as it is for me to do, I'm going to say no unless I have a good reason to say yes.

What are you doing to create room in your time for you?