If you’ve read any of my posts before, you might know that my path to simplicity started BECAUSE of my desire to be less busy. So, when I’ve been reading Courtney Carver’s book “Soulful Simplicity” and she keeps touching on how we tend to have the frantic need to fit in more…and how to stop that…I am GLUED IN. This morning I read a chapter on what she calls “The Busy Boycott,” so in case you don’t have the book, I decided to summarize how you can do a 21-day boycott on being busy. Here are the steps:
1) Step One: STOP TALKING ABOUT IT
(Days 1-7)
The main thing for this step is to stop telling everyone how busy you are. This connects to the idea of “speaking things into existence.” I often hear of this phrase used for good things we want in our life, but we can even do it for things we don’t want in our life. So, for 7 days stop using the word "busy".
She said, “When you tell someone how busy you are, you remind yourself too. You might feel busier than you actually are. Not only that, but often “I’m so busy” comes across as “I’m too busy for you.”
So, quite simply, cut out the word “busy” from your vocabulary for 7 days. One tip she had for how to avoid it is to NOT ask someone how they are doing. Let’s be honest, isn’t “busy” the answer we get more than anything else? Be creative with how you greet someone.
2) Step Two: DO LESS
(Days 8-14)
Figure out how to cut something from your schedule in these 7 days. Don’t even try to postpone it, just cut it out. If you’re afraid you might miss it, stick that event in an envelope and see if at the end of the 7 days you really missed doing that particular event. This step is creating the habit of tuning into what’s MOST important to you and letting go of other things that just fill your plate to the max. Her tip is to ask how you can be aware of what you're best at…and also ask how you can delegate or release something.
3) Step Three: LINGER LONGER
(Days 15-21)
Instead of telling yourself to hurry up, give yourself a free pass to slow down and linger a bit longer. Notice things on your walks, stay in bed longer, relish the taste of your dinner. Listen to this quote…it’s the BEST…
“Instead of thinking about the opposite of busyness as laziness, consider that the opposite of a busy life is a full, intentional life.”
I don’t know about you, but I needed those words. By slowing down we ARE NOT being lazy, we are tuning in MORE and making the MOST of our days. I repeat, WE ARE NOT BEING LAZY. We are choosing to be more intentional. I hope that was as soothing to your soul as it was to mine. Go ahead, linger a bit longer. Soak in your moments. Happy rooting, everyone!