I have the worst tendency to bite off more than I can chew. You?
Here’s the problem with biting off more than you can chew – you usually let yourself down. Think about it. If you have a super long to do list in a day don’t you usually get your work / tasks for other people done first? I do. You don’t want to miss a deadline or let someone else down.
When I have to much too do I let myself down in the following ways:
- not posting to my blog
- skipping a workout
- eating junk food for a meal
- put off homework time
Coaches that specialize in running your own business will always tell small business owners to pay yourself first. This applies to anyone, no matter what the “jobs” are in your day.
When you schedule too many things in your day there’s less of a chance that you’ll “pay yourself.” This always stirs up negative feelings for me. I get mad, sad, resentful, feel guilty, feel overwhelmed.
Yesterday I bit off exactly as much as I could chew. Mind you, I was in a bit of a rush in the morning, but I did fit it all in. Now THIS feeling is exactly opposite to the ones I described above. When I get my entire to-do list done in a day I feel proud, relieved, and on top of the world.
Now I need to repeat this, again, and again, and again. Wish me luck 
Speaking of chew – here are a few of the things I ate along my totally efficient day yesterday:
My breakfast was accompanied by a delicious juice box of vanilla almond milk. Is it just me or do beverages taste better in a juice box?
For lunch I made whole wheat pasta with tomatoes (not from the garden … yet!), basil (totally from the garden!), and bocconcini cheese.
When was the last time you got everything done that you wanted to in a day (or does this happen often for you)?
What do you think you need to adjust to make your day more efficient?
Do you pay yourself first, or do you leave the YOU tasks to the end or not at all?
I am really good about skipping workouts when I run out of time. it’s my downfall!
Oh man, I have serious all or nothing behavior and tend to have weeks where I bite off FAR more than I can chew, then I have weeks of quiet recuperation (or fun). I’m always working on finding the balance in between!
I got everything done today! Feels so good!
p.s. Your pasta looks amazing!
I really, really try to not let my busy day, stress intreupt my workouts. I feel like that is sometimes just what I need. I may not go out for a run as long as I had originally planned for, but getting out there is something I always try to do.
Keep moving forward.
Nice post. I try to use the ‘me’ items as anticipated rewards for accomplishing my other tasks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it just leads to unproductivity.
It’s amazing how much less time I seem to have in my day since I started blogging … and scouring other blogs..
I am 6.5 weeks into an 8 week meditation program for stress reduction. I only knew how to have a list longer then I could see for my days, months and years and not to mention the added stress of the guilt of not completing everything. Biting off more then you can chew is horribly bad for your health. Thankfully I am learning balance and keeping things in the present and learning not to beat yourself up for not completing things is also important.
That PB&banana looks so good, I wish I had some bread. yum:) sometimes its the simple things:)
take care of yourself. miss you. we’ll make a date soon but your all day school day is my day off. ;/
I pay me first
always.
xo
I very rarely do everything that I want to do in a day. To be honest I’m not sure how that even happens, because I’m not even technically employed right now – I should have nothing BUT time!
But nonetheless, I’ve got applications that I need to fill out/things that I’ve wanted to get done that have been sitting on my computer for days now.
Need to work on my time management skills, apparently! Or stop getting distracted by my google reader/pinterest. Either/or
Good lord – I don’t know the last time I got everything done that I needed to do. I’ve accepted the fact that some things just have to wait.
However, we’re opposite in the “pay yourself first” category. I always, always, always put myself first. But I’m sure you already know that.