You Are Already Doing Enough
If you’re like most people, you end the day or the week feeling like you didn’t do enough.
Deadlines get delayed, piling up the work.
And, you feel overwhelmed and find yourself unable to focus when you actually do have a window of time that is not tied up in meetings.
You tell yourself that if you just had a few more hours, you could get caught up, even though your to-do list is a mile-long and likely unreasonable to begin with!
So when you end your day feeling like you didn’t do enough you are fighting a battle that you will never win!
I know because I used to feel this way every single day. That inner critic still pops in my head at times saying “you should have done more”, “you could have done more” “I wish I had done more”.
What’s different now is I don’t give it my attention. I focus on what really matters (the small few), what I did accomplish, and have learned to let go of the rest.
The answer is to do less (not more).
So when you end the day feeling like you didn’t do enough, I encourage you to reflect on these questions instead:
What did I accomplish and what are the wins? Hunt for the good – it’s there.
This could be a task you completed, a team member you helped out, saying “no”, going for a morning walk or playing with your kids in the evening. Celebrate the wins, no matter how big or how small.
How can I do more of what excites me and gives me joy, and less of what drains me and stresses me out this week?
Think of this as managing your energy, not your time. We all have the same 24 hours in a day and you can do things that leave you feeling good or things that leave you running on empty. You choose.
What can I take off my plate or care less about so that I can focus more on what really matters?
Instead of looking for how to get more done in your day, look for what you can eliminate. It could be unproductive meetings, worries about what other people think, or any task that is not a great use of your time.
Because I guarantee you that you are already doing enough – in fact, you are most likely doing too much ;-).
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Stacey L. Olson is a Certified Positive Psychology Coach and has more than 15 years of corporate experience. She works with busy leaders and professionals who want to create more balance, stress less and perform at a high level so they can be the leader they want to be, feel calmer and present in their life, and have more time and energy for what really matters to them. Stacey offers executive/leadership coaching, workshops, and speaking and is the founder of The Balanced Leader membership (formerly the Be At Your Best program).
