When Life Gets Busy

Saturday, July 16, 2016
Busy, busy, busy.

Life is just go, go, go.

Finish one task? Start another. Look at that never ending to-do list weighing down your soul. Cross one off and ten more appear.

It's just do, do, do. 

Clean, work, errands, school. Putting "reading" on your to-do list so you don't forget.

You know what I'm realizing?


Life is always going to be busy.


I'm always going to have to make time for writing. For plotting and editing. I'm always going to have
to make time for Saturday's blog post. 

I'm always going to have to make time for life tasks in the midst of school, work, church activities, eating... (Yes, eating. ha.)

I'm not going to get any less busy with time. I'll ALWAYS have things I want to do. Need to do.

And if I realize and accept that, instead of moaning about how much free time I had last year, it'll be tons easier. I won't be comparing current me to past me. 

Life is crazy. For everyone. Here's what I'm learning to do in times of craziness.


When life gets busy, prioritize. 

When life gets busy, b r e a t h e.

When life gets busy, ask for help.

When life gets busy, focus on the important things.

When life gets busy, include breaks.

When life gets busy, make the most of the time in the day.

When life gets busy, help those who are more in need of my time than I am.

When life gets busy, try to get "some" sleep.

When life gets busy, realize that everyone else is busy as well.

When life gets busy, remember not to overdo things.

When life gets busy, step back and try to enjoy. Stop fretting. Worrying.

When life gets busy, pray. trust God. be thankful.

-

a shorter, more life-y post than I usually do, but it's nice to do those every once in awhile. :)

// katie grace

Are you feeling the busyness of life?
What do you do when life gets busy?

50 comments :

  1. Yes. This is all so true. You only do these kind of posts rarely, but I love them every. single. time. It's amazing how encouraging just knowing that others feel the same is!

    I have to just try and stop for a moment. And breathe. Don't forget to breathe. It's very important. :)

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    1. I totally agree. I do love it when other people do posts like these, since writing is such a lonely activity and it's easy to feel like you're the only one out there. :P

      Breathing. Yes. I've discovered that breathing is quite important over my years of living. ;)

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  2. Wow. I'm in awe. This is exactly what has been going through my mind lately. School is getting much more stressful, to the point I'm exhausted and go to sleep straight after my homework, leaving no time for writing. Still, I think I'm going to get serious about first drafting very soon. I just need to finish a few papers for school first :-)

    Good luck to you Katie with your writing! I admire how you still manage to do NaNoWriMo when the year is at its busiest (at least for me). Up until this point I was thinking, 'HOW does she manage to do it?' and this post comes and it hits me in the head life does get busy for all of us. I think, though, it's how we manage it. That's what matters.

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    1. Ugh, I don't want to even think about school starting again. It's such a bothersome and time-consuming thing and blahh. :P

      Thank you! Ha, I'm not sure how I'm going to manage this year and I'm slightly terrified. Especially now that I'm working. Eek. It'll be good. I just have to learn how to write like the speed of lightening. :P

      Thank you, Andrea! <3

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  3. When life gets busy I tend to stress out a little bit so I meditate to calm my mind and to release all the tension and sooner or later I will realise that the world won't end if I don't do certain things, that people will understand and then I try to prioritize all the things I have to do. Asking for help is a really good advice and also not forgetting to get some sleep and stop worrying :)

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    1. Yesss, not forgetting to sleep is probably a good idea. :P I think we all stress out at least a little bit when life kind of *explodes* on us, so you're not alone. <3

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  4. I've dealt with this a lot, and last year I didn't do a great job on school because I just wanted to get it done. This post was great!

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    1. Ha, I understand that feeling all too well. There's a certain point in the year (*cough* the first day *cough*) where school just becomes too much and you just want to get it over with. :P

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  5. Life isn't always busy for me, but when it is, I freak out. Usually not a major problem, though.

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    1. It's easy to freak out. Trying to get better at not freaking out. :P

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  6. I totally understand you about putting reading on your to-do list! I have had to do that lately as well. Love this post! Thank you, Katie! :) ♥

    ~Megan<333
    (megans-journals.blogspot.com)

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    1. Yay! Totally glad that I'm not the only one who does that. But, hey, at least it works. I don't forget to read, then. :P

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  7. Even though you don't do these posts very often, Katie, I love them. And this is basically the most accurate thing ever. LIFE IS ALWAYS BUSY. As much as I wish that it wasn't, IT IS. And so we just have to breathe and do the best that we can. :)

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    1. Yesss, that is so right, Grace. I need to remind myself to do my best, so I don't rush on things too much. I have a habit of rushing. .-.
      *breathes* :P

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  8. Great post, girl!!! Sometimes I don't do the important things, not because life is too busy, but because I don't take time to prioritize the most important things. So it's even more important to do so when life is busy! My life isn't a regular go go go, but this will be helpful for when it is (especially because I'm going to be a high-schooler this fall, eeeeek!)!
    -Ariel

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    1. Ha, I understand the feel. I think I often put off the most important tasks because they take the longest. It's so much easier to do little things that will take five minutes. :P

      AH. HIGH SCHOOL. You'll do awesome. <3 (homeschooling, right?)

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  9. Those are all great bullet points—and ones that I need to continue working on. Wait—err, what I mean is that I already am perfect at them all. Yes, THAT'S it. hehehe

    Thanks for the reminders!

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    1. Pfft, I TOTALLY am perfect as well. What are you talking about? ;)

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  10. ugh. yes. I know. It's been a little overwhelming lately. :P oh, well. Pretty soon school will be back. yayyyyy. We've just got to enjoy summer while it lasts and not get stressed out about the things we need to do. The world will still go around if you didn't clean your room or read (or write) today. xD

    How's editing going? I'm at almost 16k. xD

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    1. School. Yay. *sarcasm* .-.

      HA! You speak such wisdom. The world will not end if I don't clean my room. *leaves it messy* Thank you, Sarah. :P

      Editing is going! I'm done outlining so now I'm rewriting. Ew. I got in 15k yesterday, which was kind of insane. :P

      AH YOU'RE DOING SO WELL! *confetti* You can do this! 11 (I think) days left!

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  11. ugh, it's exactly how I'm feeling! It's like: "Since it's summer I'm gonna accomplish so many things and get so much stuff done and finish three novels and write a blog post everyday and learn how to cook and learn how to penny board and go out more often and"... NOTHING happens. Nothing at all. Blame it on Pinterest or Boy Meets World.

    So yeah, lately I've learned to not find excuses or freak out when I realize I only typed 200 words in an hour. My value is not found in how many things I can check off my to-do list, it's in God alone.

    I shall try to b r e a t h e for heaven's sake XD

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    1. RIGHT?? I'm always disappointed in myself when summer comes because I have such high hopes and then... *plop* ...nothing. Though, I guess working this year is my accomplishment, cause that's a new thing. :P

      Yes, that is a super good thing to remember. Thank you. <3

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  12. Life is crazy!!!! But we can do all those things and conquer!!!!!!

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  13. Who doesn't feel busy right now? This entire year has been a big, tumultuous, adventurous, groundbreaking year. Reading fluff books, eating chocolate, doing a random journal entry, seeing my friends at church, and watching a good movie are all therapy to me! Why is it summers never feel as productive as you plan? :P I got the big, scheduled items done, but all the teeny goals are slipping away :/ I think I'll be happy if I can just win Camp still. I'm stuck at 10/30K right now . . .

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    1. You have been very busy in general, so I'm in awe. Not to mention that you crank out blog posts day after day and I just don't understand. o.o

      Heh, I'm the opposite. I can do the teeny things, but big things like betaing other people's books... those get thrown down the drain. Must. Focus. On. Doing. Them.

      YOU CAN DO IT.

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  14. You've pretty much perfectly described my life rn xDDD BUSY BUSY BUSY GO GO GO!! I loved this post <33

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    1. Ahh I'm glad I'm not the only one. Though, also sad, because it's hard being busy. :P

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  15. Wow, what a great post, Katie! This is very good to remember. My life isn't currently rushrushrush, but the stress of moving can be pretty tough, and I need to remember to bring my frustration to God.

    Also, when school starts up again, I'm going to be crazy busy, so I'll probably have to reread this post as a good reminder. :P

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    1. Heh, moving itself is a huge deal. I can't imagine doing that AND camp, so you're doing awesome.

      I will, too. School. Ack, life will just explode and I'm not exactly looking forward to it. At least we'll all be going through it together. <3

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  16. *aggressively loves this post*

    Thank you so much for this! You've given me lots of food for thought! <3 <3 <3

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  17. What a great post. I'm going to need this encouragement for next semester. I'm ever grateful that this summer has given me time to figure some stuff out and establish a stronger writing habit, but I know it's not going to last forever. I wish you the best in this busy time.
    xoxo
    Lizzy

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    1. Thank you, Elizabeth! I wish you the best as well -- you can do the thing! <3

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  18. Thanks for such an encouraging post, Katie. <3

    I feel the busyness so hard right now. I had to cut out an enormous priority for the rest of the summer, because I was just gonna lose it, and I'm so glad I did.

    But seriously, girl. You wrote exactly what I needed to hear today, SO LET ME SHOWER YOU WITH HEART-EMOJIS. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

    -Amanda @ Scattered Journal Pages

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    1. Thank youuu. <3

      Ahh, that always feels good when you're able to do that. Unless you enjoyed that thing -- then it's hard. But I'm glad it's been a good decision and freed some things up for you. <3

      HEART EMOJIS YAS THANK YOU.

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  19. I needed this post today! I've been struggling with this, unable to accept the fact that I'll ALWAYS have something that needs doing. There will always be emails and writing and work and just LIFE. I try so hard to stay on top of it so I'll be "free", but they're always gonna be there! I'm trying to accept that and enjoy it. To just take one day at a time and not overwhelm myself. To go with the flow, to breathe, and embrace the busyness when it comes.

    This was so encouraging and timely. Thank you for sharing!

    OH. And I keep forgetting to tell you I tagged you for the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag! http://musingsofanelf.blogspot.com/2016/07/mid-year-book-freak-out-tag-2016.html
    No obligation to do it! Especially since the mid-year is slipping by us. >.> I can't believe I forget to let you know. My brain...

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    1. I knoww. It's so hard to accept that. I'm still learning to accept that myself. :P

      You're so welcome! I'm glad it was able to encourage you. <3

      OOOH. THANK YOU.

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  20. Wonderful post, Katie! I actually really needed it. Between reading/writing (*cough* Camp NaNo *cough*)/LIFE/volunteering at HETRA/and all the other BUSY things I've been going around feeling half-dead lately XD. I shall have to get my priorities straight *nods*.

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    1. Oh my gosh you are a busy little human. :P Ooh, what's HETRA?

      How has Camp been going for you? <3

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    2. HETRA is a horse therapy place that my sister (Skylar) and I started volunteering at a couple weeks ago. I would tell you what HETRA stands for, but it would appear that I've forgotten XD. Its been really fun so far! The kids and the horses can be quite amusing, and they're so fun to work with :D.

      IT'S HARD. It's been going really well, but it's HARD XD. I don't know how you're surviving with a 50k goal! HOW ON EARTH are you so close to finishing?! Like, you've only got 10k left! GO YOU!! *gives you pizza*

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  21. Definitely pray, and the more busy you are the more you need it.

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    1. Yes, it is such a good thing to remember and do.

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  22. Ugh, I needed this post so much because I really struggle with busyness and I can get really depressed about it. I like being busy, and I like having a lot to do, but I also need to remember, from time to time, that it's important to rearrange my schedule and include time for myself and for others and stuff without feeling guilty about it. I forget that it's important to do what it takes to preserve my sanity and health, even if it means putting some seemingly-important tasks on the back burner.

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    1. It's so easy to do. .-.
      I love what you said, Liz. I totally agree. <3

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  23. THIS POST IS WONDERFUL. Incredible, perfect, encouraging. Thank you for sharing words of wisdom.
    I am totally in love with your blog. Consider me your newest follower.

    -T.
    x

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    1. AH THANK YOU, TANE. Your words are so sweet halp. <3
      So excited to have you along on this crazy blog adventure of mine! :D

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  24. Yes, the never ending to do list can be a grind, thanks for this post. It was just what I needed.

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  25. So true, Katie! Life has been very busy for me lately, so this was very encouraging. Thank you so much!

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  26. DUDE KATIE THIS CAME AT A VERY GOOD TIME IN THE LIFE OF MINE.
    THANK YOUUUU <3 Honestly most of this summer was pretty much b-o-r-i-n-g for me, but I'm guessing life is going to speed up a bit more so THANK YOU for writing this. I agree with you on all the points, especially praying and leaning on God. IT'S HIS GRACE THAT CARRIED ME HERE AND IT'll CARRY ME ON YANNO? Anyway lovely post!
    AND DUDE YOUR BLOG IS SO POPULAR I LOVE IT

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