The holiday season is upon us and with it massive amounts of stress and overwhelmed schedules. If you are one of the many people dealing with heart palpitations because of a full schedule, this mini article may help.
I recently came across a podcast that talked about simplifying an overwhelmed schedule. In the podcast, they talked about one simple practice that helped them cut through the noise. It’s simply asking yourself “What is the priority (singular)?” When the word “priority” came into the English language, it stayed singular for 500 years. It wasn’t until the 1900’s that we made it plural, giving us the impression that we can have many “important things”. But when everything is a priority, nothing is.
When you step back and ask yourself “What is the priority of my life” or “What is the priority of this season?”, it will then help you determine if the daily decisions you are making are leading you toward or away from that priority.
For example, if your priority is a closer relationship with your family, what choices are you making daily to help you meet that goal? Are you spending quality time together? Are you taking time to genuinely listen to the concerns and fears of your kids? Are you aware of what would serve you and your family best in the season of life that you are in? It’s easy to make a priority and then coast along assuming that we will one day reach our desired destination. But without intentionally taking steps to get there, we never will. When we analyze our daily habits, we may discover that none of the things we choose to spend our time on are actually helping us reach our goal. We can get so caught up in the to-do list or the tyranny of the urgent that what our hearts really want and what is best for us gets lost in the busyness of our schedules.
So, let me encourage you this holiday season, and as we look forward to a New Year, to take a step back and ask “What is my priority?” Then, look at your schedule and see what intentional changes you can make to get there. Maybe you say “no” to more things, or maybe you add more in. Either way, when you take intentional steps toward your desired goal, you will look back 10 years down the road thankful that you did.
If you are interested in the podcast that inspired all of this, check out Simplifying an Overwhelmed Schedule: Moving from Priorities to Priority from Famous at Home on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.