Some days there are simply more things to do than there is time to do them. When that happens, my first instinct is usually to work out how I can fit everything in. What should I do first? What can I squeeze in before work? What can I get done while dinner is cooking? Somehow the question is always about how I’m going to do everything, rather than whether everything actually needs to be done.
Once something makes it onto the mental list, it can start to feel important. The washing needs folding, someone needs a reply, there’s something to pick up from the shops and an appointment I’ve been meaning to make. Then I notice something around the house that needs doing, remember something else and add that too. None of it is particularly difficult on its own. There’s just a lot of it.
Being organised certainly helps, but it doesn’t create more hours in the day. A beautifully written list with everything arranged in the right order is still a list that might contain more than I realistically have time for. I’m beginning to realise that sometimes there isn’t a cleverer way to fit everything in. Something simply has to wait.
That sounds obvious when I write it down, yet I don’t think I’ve always treated it that way. Leaving something until tomorrow can feel like I haven’t finished what I was supposed to do today, even when nobody actually decided it had to be done today except me.
So I’ve started looking at those busy days a little differently. Some things genuinely need my attention. A bill with a due date is different from a cupboard I’d like to tidy. An important phone call is different from a load of washing that can wait another day. They may all be on the same list, but that doesn’t mean they all carry the same weight.
There are also things I would like to get done, things that can wait and, if I’m being realistic, probably a few things that don’t need doing at all. It’s surprisingly easy to turn something I could do into something I should do.
Another question worth asking is whether I’m actually the person who needs to do it. When you’re used to remembering things, organising things and making sure things happen, it’s easy to keep doing them without really thinking about it. Something can end up on my list simply because it always has.
None of this means responsibilities disappear or that putting things off indefinitely is the answer. It just means accepting that time and energy have limits. On a day when the list is longer than the hours available, deciding what not to do can be just as useful as deciding what to do first.
Everyday life will keep adding things anyway. There will always be another job around the house, another message, another appointment and something else I suddenly remember. Perhaps finishing everything was never a realistic goal.
Sometimes there are too many things and not enough time.
And it’s okay not to do them all.
If your head is carrying too much
Sometimes it helps just to get everything out of your head and onto paper. The Invisible Load Reset is a printable brain dump workbook designed to help you capture what you’re carrying, sort through it and decide what actually needs your attention.
