Balancing the Busy Bucket

Photo credit: The Fitz (ha!)

“If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”

I totally agree. Heard this one before? I don’t know who originally said it – but they said it well.

A busy person will Get. Stuff. Done.

… and – if it doesn’t get done – you can generally rest assured it’s not forgotten, it’s just been placed on a well-attended-to back burner, safe and sound for when time allows.

I thought of this the other day going through my To Do List (and I obviously mean “lists” – of course there’s more than one…). I crossed things off the list (insert happy dance and self high-five here), added a few more, and rearranged the ones that rolled over from the last list (aka the well-attended-to and still-under-a-watchful-eye back burner).

And I started thinking how I am now a “To Do List” person – you know, as in a person who is at least somewhat aware that they have lots to do, desires to stay (at least somewhat) organized, and is conscientious enough to know they cannot (or at least should not…) try to go about it without a strategy and a system – aka, the To Do List for “busy” people (which, aren’t we all busy people?).

So, suddenly more aware of my “busy-ness” I got to thinking about how much of my time, energy, and focus is on To Do List stuff versus, you know, everything else.

Which – if you know me at all – unsurprisingly led to…

… lots of thinking,

… a metaphor or two,

… plus a few meandering thoughts about dogs, what snack to eat next, and if my coupon to Loft had already expired (but I won’t take you down those rabbit trails).

Of the things I thought, one was this: If I were to put myself in a bucket (figuratively, of course), I think I’d find I spend a fair share of time in The Busy Bucket, but also a decent amount of time outside its rim. 

Plan a wedding during grad school, get your master’s degree the same week as your wedding, literally saying your vows at the same time your research is being presented at a conference a few states away…

… but then walk down the aisle, dance around the dance floor, and jet off on vacation with no email or work for at least a week or two. Cheers!

Build a house and carry out a move, while verrrry pregnant, working and seeing patients until the day before your Sweet Baby Boy arrives – notes in on time, To Do List items crossed off, and projects wrapped up with a bow…

… but then sign off for months to focus on getting to know your Sweet Baby Boy.

You get the picture.

So, like I said, I think I’m an ID carrying, tax paying, resident of The Busy Bucket – at least during work hours and weekdays for the most part, but I like to jet off the grid and out of The Busy Bucket’s city limits the remainder of the time – to rest, recharge, and refocus, spending time doing what matters most and soaking up time with loved ones.

That said, there are times the pull of The Busy Bucket lifestyle creeps up on you – that mindset of efficiency and the mesmerizing pull to get stuff done so you can have the gratification of checking it off that bossy To Do List. 

… Like listening to work-related podcasts or webinars while driving to work.

… Like ordering groceries and diapers online while Sweet Baby Boy naps on me.

… Like telling myself it’d really be most efficient if I used nap time to be productive – laundry, cleaning, meal-prepping (ha! since meal prepping has happened exactly ZERO times so far).

Of course I’ve done these things (again, except the meal prepping), crossing them off the To Do List during nap times and late evenings – but sometimes I also just… don’t.

I don’t always listen to work-related stuff on the drive…

… I jam out, sing, and car dance to the best of the 80s, 90s, 00s, and whatever it is we are calling the last decade.

I don’t always do Amazon and Target orders or go through my email from the comfort of the rocker during baby naps…

… I recline with Sweet Baby Boy’s head on my chest, cuddled against me, peeking periodically up at me to make sure his mama is right where he left her when he drifted to dreamland. 

I don’t always work on household chores or plan for the week ahead while Sweet Baby Boy naps in the crib…

… I sit in our comfy nursery rocker, snuggled up cozy with him, smelling his wild, soft, fluffy hair, listening to him breathe, feeling his heart beat on my chest, and – sometimes – writing a blog on my phone when nap time goes long (I mean, baby needs his sleep, and mama needs something to keep her own eyes open and to keep her awake).

Some days, like today, I’m reminded that – as much as this world likes to hype up The Busy Bucket and entice us to spend our time there – my evenings, nights, and weekends are best spent off The Busy Bucket grid…

… cozy in a blanket with my boys cuddled up in my own little corner of the world or out on an adventure with them during the day,

… in soft clothes and glasses on the sofa with the hubby and The Fitz at night,

… relaxing in the calm, preparing for the next venture into The Busy Bucket ahead. 

So, to all y’all who are also Type-A’s-but-also-Type-B’s, introverted extroverts, who love to run fast but also relax hard, who are pulled to both go go go and also say no and go slow…

… here’s to shuffling everything around a bit more and more each day, while we map out the boundaries of The Busy Bucket, put it in its place, finding the quickest routes both in and out, so we can joyfully balance The Busy Bucket another day.