I Try To Do Too Much

This is something that I have been pondering for a while now . . . I try to do too much . . . I really do. I always feel like I have so much to do and I never have enough time to do all of it. I have a list of things that I would like to get done around the house, and they never get done. This is mostly because something else comes up and the housework becomes less of a priority than I had intended it to be. Yes, sometimes those last minute things are more important than touching up the paint around the house, but seriously, this has been on my list for far too long now!

There are several reasons why I try to do more than I actually can. Some of them are obvious to me, and others I just never think of. That is why I appreciate today's post on Simple Mom. Today's post is "Why Do We Say Yes When We Really Mean No?" by a guest columnist, Lisa Byrne. Her post basically hit the nail on the head. It lists several reasons as to why we say yes instead of no so often, and I fit into every category! I'm not surprised, I've always been this way, but it was nice to have it spelled out for me. My biggest issue is prioritizing and then sticking to my list! I'm so much more easily distracted than I ever thought I was. I need to keep my most important priorities in mind, and when someone asks something of me, and I realistically can't do it, I need to have the courage to say no. Saying no has always been hard for me, since I'm that person who likes to please everyone, so it is something that I need to work on.

I was recently called to be the Young Women's President at church and I love it! I was already serving in the YW program and I am so excited to continue working with the young women of our church. They are awesome, and inspiring and we have lots of fun. However, with my new calling, a whole new slew of tasks that I need to complete on a daily/weekly/monthly basis comes with it. It is a big challenge for me to add something so time consuming to my already hectic routine, but church is a huge priority for me and so I am happy to do it. One thing that I have learned about myself while being in this calling is that I need to be better about asking for help and delegating tasks. I serve with amazing women and they are so very helpful. I have been working hard on handing some tasks off to other people and trusting that they will get the job done. I just can't oversee every little detail, so I need to trust that others will get the job done and do it well. This has already helped me a lot and taken tons of pressure off of me.

With everything that has to get done and everything I want to get done, I don't always find time to keep my blog updated. That's OK. I started it so that I would have a place to share ideas, and more importantly, I wanted to have fun with it. So I may not post often, but I'm going to keep it going because I really do enjoy it. I just can't spend as much time on it as I would like to. I haven't even been keeping my family blog updated!

I think I'm going to spend a couple of days focusing on my most important task - being a mom - and have some fun with my girls. I also want to update our family blog since it is a way that we keep in touch with our family and friends, as well as start working on our 2008 family blog book so that my girls have a record of all of the adorable and funny things that they do when they get older.

First I'm going to be a loving wife and mother, then I'm going to work on everything church related until I get caught up. Then, I'll tackle the housework that isn't part of my everyday routine. I just need to prioritize and stop trying to do more than I actually can all of the time. It may mean saying no when I would actually like to do something and/or help someone out, but I need to keep what's most important to me in mind.

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

~ D&C 88:119