Stop Trying to Get it All Done

"There's just too much to do and not enough time to do it." Does this sound like your life? Of all the things we worry about this seems to be one of our most pressing concerns. "How can I get everything done?"

The ironic thing about worrying about this is, no matter how much we stress ourselves out trying to complete everything on time, there always seems to be more to do.

Worrying about getting everything done takes the joy out of living. Our lives are turned into nothing more than a means to an end. We wake up and immediately go through the to do list in our heads. We check things off and add more. We waste so much of our time complaining, stressing, worrying, being angry, and trying to "get everything done."

"Does it ever end?"

The answer is, No.

When my mother died, she still had bills to pay, taxes to file, people to see, and phone calls to make. That's just the way it goes. We aren't meant to get everything done, there is no such thing.

Complaining about the laundry, paying the bills every month, running errands, cleaning the house, going to appointments, and all of the other things we get all worked up about, is completely futile. No matter how much you protest, and no matter how uncomfortable and unhappy you make yourself, you'll have to do it again.

You can't make all of your responsibilities go away. However, you can make your resistance to them go away. You don't have to love cleaning the house, you don't have to love going to work, or paying the bills, but you can realize that, this is the way it is, and accept it. Why should you have to pay the bills and feel terrible about it?

I know, it's a lot easier said than done. But the thing is, whether it's easy or not, it has to be done. What you really want is relief. You want to be able to let go, stop worrying, and relax. Since we know our responsibilities and problems are never going to completely go away, the only way left to find relief from them is to stop upsetting ourselves over them. This doesn't mean we should pretend to be ok when something bothers us. It's important that we be honest with ourselves. It simply means that the repeated and relentless stress we experience over the things we have to do, needs to be put in check.

Most of the reactions we have to things like paying the bills, and completing the tasks we have to do each week are just habits. We get used to reacting the same way each time, so we do it automatically. It may not even be that bad, but we act as if it is because it's become a habit.

What has to be done, if we want to end our obsession with the things we have to do, is first realize that we are never going to get everything done. It's impossible. Don't see that as depressing, use it as a reason to focus on other things in life that bring you joy. You can't get it all done, just accept that and move on.

This quote by Jim Rohn says it perfectly: "You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of."