5 Signs You Are Overscheduling Yourself

Apr 6, 2017

Being a woman today means wearing a lot of hats. We have mother hats, wife hats, girlfriend hats, employee hats, housekeeper hats, volunteer hats, and the list goes on. If we have kids, we might wear other hats that have to do with our kids’ activities.

I do not know about you, but having a lot of hats means my closet is full of hats. I would rather have it full of flip flops and slippers. If you have a lot of “hats,” you are probably overscheduling yourself. Here are five signs that say this is true.

1 Your calendar is quite colorful

You know what I mean. You use a different colored pen for a different person, activity, or event. Then you see circles and stars to highlight the most important tasks. Some people even have a family calendar they hang on the wall that shows everyone’s schedule at any given day or time. It happens to be beautifully colored as well. This is great, but not for your well-being.

2 Your social life is null

You have no time for yourself to enjoy with friends outside of the PTO, lounge, or sports team. Your social life consists of hanging out with the parents of your children’s events or your co-workers at lunch. Or you end your day lying exhausted in bed wishing your life was not so over-packed with chores and duties.

Read also – 7 Signs You Are Constantly Putting Yourself Last

3 When you sit down, you immediately fall asleep

If you are not moving, you are sleeping. That is just how your life is. You can’t sit down because there are too many things that need to be done or taken care of right now and that only you can do. That is overscheduling yourself, which will eventually ruin your entire well-being.

4 Your health is out of whack

You might find yourself overly tired all the time or you have headaches, backaches, or stomach problems. Maybe you have not taken the time to see a doctor lately, and something just does not feel quite right now that you take the time to think about it. Health is wealth; do not forget about it.

5 “No” is not part of your vocabulary

The only time you use that word is when you tell the kids or pets not to do something dangerous or reckless. Otherwise, people know that if they ask you to do something, you will do it. You can’t say no because you feel like people depend on you, and again, you are the only one who can do it.

Read also – 5 Tips for Dealing with Anxiety-Related Procrastination

If any of these things sound familiar, you might want to take a step backwards and re-evaluate where you can change some things. Can you delegate some household chores even if they are not done perfectly?

Can you drop some of the kids’ activities or your committees you are on? How about actually saying “no” to people? You can do it nicely. I encourage you to sit down, without falling asleep, and take a good look at the things you can change now, and then get rid of some hats.