Signs You Are Trying to Focus on Too Much

Hey, how are you? Oh, busy.

How many times in the last week have you asked someone how they are doing and got the above as a response? I am willing to bet it is quite a few times.

Busyness is not a virtue, nor is it a sign of productivity. If you are taking on too much, the truth is, you will focus on none of it and do a horrible job at what you manage to complete. It’s always better to do less, yet do it correctly rather than to do many things with errors and mistakes.

But how do you know you are focusing on too much? Awareness is key! Here are 8 signs:

You Forget What You’re Doing – Have you ever started to do something and forgotten what it was you’re doing right in the middle? This is a genuine problem for those who take on too much. You can’t focus on everything and do everything for everyone.

You Don’t Prioritize – If you have no idea what needs to happen first, you may do things repeatedly. For example, should you dust or vacuum first? Should you outline or research first? Understanding the processes that work best will help you prioritize your workload.

You’re Missing Deadlines – If you’re working all the time, but you’re not getting anything done, it’s simple. You’re doing too much. People think the so-called 40-hour workweek is a good example of how long people should work a job, but the truth is, nobody is productive for 40 hours. There is research that says a person is about 3 to 4 hours productive in a day.

You’re Not Managing Your Time – If you don’t even keep a calendar, and nothing happens as scheduled, you’re not constructively managing your time. One way you can help yourself is to learn more about time management and energymanagement. You are given the same number of hours as the next person, so it must be about managing it and your energy to get the most from it.

You Feel Anxious and Stressed – When you aren’t having enough downtime to rest, recover and can’t take care of your human needs like eating, exercising, loving, and so forth, you’re not going to have a happy and fulfilling life. So, if you feel stressed out, consider whether your schedule includes all parts of you that should be included.

You Get to Bed Late and Can’t Sleep – It’s hard if not impossible with your current lifestyle to get to bed at a good hour to ensure a minimum healthy 8 hours of sleep if you’re doing too much. The problem is made worse when you manage to get in the bed your mind is so full of stress that you can’t sleep. Enough quantity and quality sleep is essential to have the energy during the day to do what you need to get done.

You Miss Opportunities – Because you are so all over the place doing a little of this and a little of that, you aren’t ready when opportunities seem to come right to you. You don’t have a down payment. You can’t buy that laptop on sale. You are too tired to go to that sale at the mall. This increases your feeling of FOMO which increases your stress. As you can imagine, that is a cycle nobody wants to be caught in.

You Pay Late Fees – When you’re too distracted due to having too much on your plate, it’s not unusual to end up messing up your finances too by having to pay late fees.

If you are doing any of this, you are not a bad person. In fact, you’re just doing what society has taught you to do, or at least presented to you that successful people are doing. Nothing is further from the truth, though.

Smart, successful people focus on doing fewer things well to build a balanced, high-quality life. They make proficiency and efficacy a priority over appearing busy and doing more.?

Take some time and reflect on which sign(s) you are experiencing. Self-awareness is key to change. When you know which one(s) is/are the issue, think of 1 thing you can start doing to change it. Small steps taken consistently have a massive impact.