The Effects Of Being TOO Busy
I love to be busy.
As much as I love the idea of relaxing, the truth is, it drives me nuts. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a relaxing day here and there. However, the more things I have going on, the better. I live for the juggling act.
This characteristic played very well for me in my previous life navigating the corporate world. Multitasking was the name of the game. Being able to sift through the ever loaded email inbox, prepare for meetings, sit on unnecessarily long status calls and complete the actual job you were hired to do all before close of business was a multitasker’s dream.
One would think this trait would also prove to be a positive characteristic when I became a mom. However, it’s been a great flaw.
I am a stay at home mom, wife, fitness instructor, blogger and occasional baker. The days are usually filled with running my daughter to her school and activities, cooking, cleaning, creating choreography for my classes, blogging and any other craft or task that needs to be completed. Usually I’m running on all cylinders. It’s tiring and sometimes overwhelming, but my multitasking skills definitely help. As I stated earlier, I love being busy! And it’s true, with this “job”, the busyness is constant and the rest waning. The former me would be reveling in the juggling act. However, as the days seem to get busier, I’ve begun to realize that the desire to be busy, is not a mother’s friend. The simple reason? If you like to be busy, you’re missing some precious moments.
Photo: Kristen Samson Jackson
Yes, my daughter is with me most of the time. There are days when my task list is so long and my crazy desire to take on all of it is too great, that by bedtime, I realize I really missed my little girl. Even though we may physically be together, I’m not as present as I should be. Some days I will be sitting at the table with my headphones trying to find music for my fitness classes. She’ll be next to me doing crafts I put together earlier that morning. I’ll have her prep a pretend dinner in her play kitchen while I prep the real thing. She’ll be practicing tracing her name on the worksheets I made, while I sit to write. Then after I teach my class each night, I’ll be home just in time to tuck her in and cuddle before she drifts off.
Photo: Kristen Samson Jackson
I ask her what her favorite part of the day was and she tells me. Then when she’s finished, she asks me what mine was. I always respond the same. “Being with you.” The response always elicits a big smile and an “I love you”.
That’s when the guilt sets in. Did I make the time to truly be with her that day? Or was I too busy being….well, busy? Wouldn’t it have been so much better if she actually helped me prepare dinner? Yes, it would’ve taken twice as long, but would that have mattered? What was the rush?
We are always asking for more time in the day. If we were to get that time, would we spend it checking off more items on the task list? Or make it count for something much more important than a silly task list?
I realized my time for piling on task after task was over.
Life is busy enough without me creating more tasks. There will always be many balls to juggle and some days I will need to get certain things done. But I don’t ever want to feel like the time I’ve been able to stay at home with my little girl has been wasted. They say time is precious and fleeting. So I intend to spend it with someone precious before I miss another moment only to realize the time has come and gone way too quickly.
Kristen is the mommy behind the groove at Mommy’s New Groove, a blog about mom life. When she’s not writing, she can be found singing Disney songs with her 3 year old daughter, experimenting in the kitchen or teaching Zumba Fitness® classes. A (somewhat) reformed control freak and master multitasker, Kristen is learning that this crazy mom life is constantly evolving and all you can do is find your ever-changing new groove. You can follow Kristen on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
