How are you?

Busy.  So Busy.  Yeah, tell me about it.  I am so busy too!  Sound familiar?  My guess is that it does.  Because busy has become the new fine.  Not that long ago, I remember the standard answer to the question how are you doing was a simple four-word answer. Fine.  It seemed like everyone was fine.  Except we weren’t.  But that’s what we told each other.  I am fine. We might as well have answered using the apathetic word meh because it would have had the same affect.

Times have changed…

And our four-letter response has changed to busy. How many times have you heard it recently?  How many times have you said it?  When is the last time you answered the question with I am so busy? I caught myself twice this week.  And I heard it several times.  It is the easy answer.  Everyone can relate with it.  And if we say it, there is a good chance we won’t have to explain ourselves.  Because we all get it.

But what are we busy with?

How’s that for a question?  Because what has really changed?  Actually everything has changed.  Our phones have added an element of busy.  Youth sports have certainly added to a level of busy for young families.  Too many commitments squeezed into a tight schedule.  How has it gotten so bad so quickly?  And why are we crushed under the weight of our busyness?

I took a step back…

And asked myself some of those questions.  In this season of life where I am practicing dentistry and growing a speaking and coaching business, I have been playing the busy card often.  And people get it.  I am working more hours over the last year than any point in my life.  The challenge and impact I get to have with my patients, my team, and my clients is rewarding and worth it, but the reality is that I am filling up most of the days of the week with work.  And that leads to our favorite four-letter word.

So what do we do about it?

Will we just continue to be overwhelmingly busy?  Will our headstone someday read Here Lies Eric Recker.  He was so busy? I don’t know about you, but that is not the life I want. I want a life of impact.  A life of relationships.  And that is actually going to be more about becoming less busy.  So what is my game plan?  Because if we don’t have a plan or goals around a change like this, we will be here a year from now and stuck in the same rut.

Here’s a few thoughts…

1. Be aware of your own busyness. Write it down in a journal.  Talk to a trusted friend.  Get it out in the open.  Out of the darkness where it has power.  Admit it.  If we don’t admit it, we will continue to live in denial.
2. See why you are so busy.  Evaluate what you are actually spending your time on. My eyes were opened big time when I really looked at what was keeping me so busy.  Or was it just giving me the excuse to say I am so busy.
3. Do something about it. We are going to be going after this at my event, the Iowa WINtheNOW Gathering on April 12.  I would love to have you join us.  You will hear from myself and two other dynamic speakers and come away with actionable steps to move the needle in your own life.  It is going to be an amazing day.  And if you come, you can stay and celebrate the release of my second book, That Dam Analogy.  I have been excited about a lot o speaking engagements, but never more excited than I am for this one.

Because I know what busyness is like…

I love to help people get control of their schedules and work to un-busy their lives.  It is a powerful process.  But there is hope on the other side.  It doesn’t always have to be this way!

And if you need another resource to combat busyness, check out John Mark Comer’s book The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry.  It is brilliant.

But whatever you choose, please know that there is hope.  It doesn’t always have to be this way!  Can you imagine a future life where your default answer isn’t busy?  How cool would that be?  I believe in you!  Let’s get you going in that direction!