The Busy Badge

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How many conversations have you had with other women that involved how busy you are?

It seems as though bragging about how busy we are has become a badge to wear with pride. The busier you are, the bigger your badge. There are probably even levels like gold, silver, platinum. For some it is being busy with their children. Joining every sports, club and event that is available. Others say “yes” to every outing, activity, party and group.

If “busy badges” were a real physical thing (off to check Etsy for one…..) I would have a wall of them. There was a time when I was running my child care center, attending college (2-3 classes), homeschooling my two daughters, selling LuLaRoe and taking lots of social media courses. Being busy was my “thing”. It was what I was known for, “doing it all”. What many people didn’t realize was I might have been doing lots of things, but other parts of my life were suffering. My grades weren’t what I would have liked because I couldn’t dedicate enough time to schoolwork. There were many times I got behind on grading my daughters schoolwork. LuLaRoe often fell through the cracks because I didn’t have time to consistently post on social media.

Priorities

To avoid wearing a busy badge, you have to look at your priorities. What activities and responsibilities are necessary? Work, of course, is a financial necessity. But is playing on the company softball team or attending every staff get- together? If being involved in your child’s education is important to you, that doesn’t necessarily require you to join every parent group that is offered.

The Effects

How are these busy activities affecting you and your family? Are there negative effects? Make a list of how things might be different if you stopped some of those activities. When I made my list, LuLaRoe vendor events were something I really looked at. While they took up a lot of time and often an entire Saturday, I realized that during those events I was spending quality time with my husband and daughter and we had fun! I was able to focus on scheduling posts during the slow times and even took lots of flat lay pictures.

So, while vendor events might have been a busy activity others could eliminate from their schedule, I was able to see the value it did bring to my family and my business.

Busy Badge

If there is a badge for being busy, then there should be one for real quality activities. A badge for self-care. You earn that when you read for 30 minutes instead of working on something that can wait. A badge for supportive partner. This is given when you turn off the television, put away the phone or tablet and focus on your significant other. These are the badges we should be wearing. These are the things we should be proudly doing instead of the things that simply keep us busy.

Goals

Typically, the things that keep us busy are because we are trying to reach a goal. Is it to be the ideal mother by being involved in every child related activity available? Or is it to be an amazing mom by being supportive, loving and spending quality time with your child? Now, look at how the activities in your life are helping you meet your goal. If it isn’t helping you meet your goal, how important is it to you?

Reflection

Often I think, when I am gone, what will people remember about me? What legacy do I want to leave? Will my kids say “mom was always so busy” or will they say “mom always had time for us”? Will my friends say “she always had something going on” or will they have known I was available and not too busy for them? Do the things I invest my time in bring me joy? Does it cause me stress or aggravation? Are there negative impacts on other parts of my life?

Go ahead and take off that busy badge and put it away. There are many other badges to wear proudly!

Tell me what badge you want to wear proudly! Head over to my FaceBook group and find the Busy Badge post!