There is a saying that goes “ if you need something done, ask a busy person.” This is because people with a busy life like you and me are highly driven and stand out from our peers, whether you see it or not!
If this doesn’t feel like you at the moment, or you want to be brilliantly busy and not plain rushed off your feet. This post is for you!
Here are 4 ways to be brilliantly busy!
First things first…
The first thing I want to say is about time management! People with a busy life have to manage their time in a way that is mindful. I mean that you have to think about each minute in a way that is different to a normal person. Each minute counts and if you use them well, you will have SO many more that are free!
The first way to do this is by…
Managing a busy life: Using dead time
Story time: During year 12 my life was INCREDIBLY busy. I was in a drama production that meant leaving my house at 6am and getting home at 7.30pm latest having done a full day of school too!
I’m sure you can relate to this feeling of being rushed off your feet all day, getting home and feeling pooped…
I found myself with very little time to do the work I needed to for school and medicine, using dead time was how I did this:
- Create voice notes – I made voice notes on everything from current affairs, revision topics, languages, and lines for my play.
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”- Bruce Lee
This way whenever I was walking about the house, or travelling I would be listening to this passively and learning.
2. Read while you travel- If you take the bus to college or Uni like me, you probably spend 30 minutes at least just listening to music. Here is a great post by Life of a medic great further reading blog posts to get you started!
If you spent half of that doing a quick task you can do in a few minutes, how much more would you be able to do each week? That’s over an hour of extra time!
3. Wake up earlier- I know this is unpopular but even getting up an hour or 30 minutes earlier can help!
I loved getting the earlier bus to school when I was super busy, I would get to the library when it opened and get up to 2 hours of extra time!
Plus it gave me an excuse to treat myself to a coffee on the way without rushing!
4. Restrict social media – I seriously suggest using an app like “ forest.” during GCSES I used this to disable my entire phone for short bursts of study. Remember that binging socials and Netflix is okay, but try to plan that into a time frame again. I promise you will get used to making these mindful decisions!
For example: only watch Netflix after 7pm and once you have eaten dinner, at that point all work and tasks go away. Try not to let this run into sleep time though!
These small changes may be hard at first but I want you to realise something…
As busy people, we are DIFFERENT from others our age. This means we have to think differently, and that is okay. Once you grasp that you will fly!
Managing a busy life: Learn to say No! ( and yes too:))
Storytime: During year 12, I wanted to do everything. I had been presented with so many opportunities and signed myself up to them all without thinking.
In retrospect, I often wasted time on minimally helpful ev
There may be a few reasons people say yes to too much:
- You are too wrapped up in future goals.
- Fear of disappointing others
- Fear of missing out.
When you commit to too much, something is bound to suffer. Being that packed for activities is actually often more harmful than helpful.
Sometimes, everything looks good but be mindful of what will bring the greatest benefit to your life:
- Weigh up the NOW benefit and the FUTURE benefit and find a middle group. Those are the things that you should spend the most time on.
- What I’m saying is: don’t get wrapped up in temporary things, but also don’t get wrapped up in your career goal for 6 years time. What is your middle ground?
Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean you have to. This goes without saying for aspiring medics, and academics where it feels like everyone is shouting “GO GO GO” at you!
On a similar note, the wonderful Progress with Jess has created a blog post on work-life balance. This is vital to master to manage a busy life well.
Managing a busy life: Plan it out!
I Hate bullet journals and timetables. It works for some but for others it can be too hard to actually plan everything because you are so busy, plans keep changing!
My strategy is to make short and specific lists of no more than 4 tasks for the day. This just helps to make everything feel achievable.
Here’s an example of my daily lists:
It is not possible for any human to do more than a few tasks to a high standard every day. This may make you panic if you feel that there are so many things pulling for your attention.
“Be the Boss of your busy. Don’t let busy be your Boss!”
-medicalzoe.com
In the long run, it will help you to manage how busy you feel and prevent burnout. You will get it all done, but today’s worries are enough for today.
Managing a busy life: Delegate like a BOSS!
You are not responsible for carrying the world on your shoulders. ( It may feel like it, but you are not.)
If you are reading this, you are either:
- A natural leader ( even if you don’t think so :))
- A bit of control freak ( in the sweetest of ways)
“I learned to delegate from a very young age.”- Richard Branson.
Sometimes letting go of physical responsibilities like:
- Always leading group projects
- Doing all the house chores
- Always organising social meetups.
Can help lift a considerable weight off your shoulders!
I get it, in your head, Nobody else can do the job as well as you can. However, sometimes done is better than perfect when you need to manage such a busy life.
Delegate emotionally too :
With such a busy life, don’t always need to be the emotional support for everyone in your team/group. This is a full-time job in itself. Caring is great but be mindful of it taking excess time and energy.
Also, delegate your own emotions. If your busy life feels overwhelming, another pair of eyes on your schedule can really help provide an alternate approach. This could be a friend, teacher, or parent ( I am also always around to help with what I can!)
Always reach out for support when needed.
To wrap it up…
I like to say that a normal person has 24 hours in a day. Effectively busy people have 25. (small flex- that’s you now that you have read this ;))
If you implement some of the things mentioned, you will be one of these brillliantly busy people!
Busy does not have to = overwhelmed.
Remember what your priorities are, and to enjoy life too! Don’t let small moments pass you by and remember to walk slowly and smile often ( cringe but true).
Lastly, your world moves at your pace. It feels out of control sometimes but you have the ability to set the speed. Please don’t forget that! It’s okay to slow things down sometimes 🙂
Thank you for reading my Blog! I am always so glad that you are in this team!
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Have the most lovely week and keep being brilliant!
-Zoe xxx