As a minimalist, you know how to declutter and keep it simple. You may have reduced your environmental footprint in order to be more green and minimize your impact on the planet. You may have cleaned out your car – or even sold it in favor of public transportation, cycling, or walking. You may have committed to not buying anything new or making another minsumerism-driven goal.
You can also minimize your commitments. We are a culture of busy. We think busy is good, a sign of success. While being busy does get things done, being busy all the time is a sure way to lead to burnout and may even impact your health as you favor your to-do list over sleeping, exercising, or preparing healthy meals to eat.
There are many commitments we all have. We have commitments to our families, our spouses and partners, our children. We have commitments to our friends. We have commitments at work and at home. We have commitments to our utility companies and debtors (gotta pay those bills). We have shopping to do, errands to run, rooms to clean, and goals to accomplish.
Take a break.
Realistically examine if you are cramming too much busy into your day, your week, your month, or your year. Some busy times are to be expected (school starting for the kids, a new job, the holiday season, and more), but for the majority of your days, try to keep the days reasonable. More often than not, you should go to bed at the end of the day without feeling completely drained from your busy day.
Lately, I have been going to bed drained. I’ve been keeping very busy, and I am coming to terms with the fact that I have a lot on my plate right now! I am about to get increased responsibility at my full-time job due to a maternity leave in the office. I have been working increased hours on my freelance writing career, which I hope to continue to grow. These are two commitments I cannot change, so I must examine other areas of my life I can cut back on. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to cut back on my personal blogging while I get a handle on the increased responsibility at work and the increased hours for writing. At least for a while, I will just be updating once weekly instead of twice. I think this will give me a little extra time each week to take a break for me and make sure I go to bed on time and a wee bit less frazzled at the end of the day!
See you next week! 🙂
Caitlin Liz Fisher 
Thanks for your post.
I too am overcommitted, but thankfully that ends tomorrow. Then a week later I have even more time to myself with a holiday from my other work.
Personally, my plan is in the opposite direction to you next year. I’m cutting back my work and focussing on my blogging and other personal projects. I’m very excited about that!
Enjoy your endeavours, and I look forward to catching up with your weekly posts.
Thank you, and good luck with your goals! Hopefully now I can have a little more time to come up with some more thoughtful and quality posts. 🙂
It took me a long time to become intentional with my time. This is the first year, since I was a teenager actually, that I don’t feel too busy. And I wish I knew exactly how I did it! Just keep at it, though, and you’ll find your happy place. 🙂
It’s a lot of trial and error, but I’ll get there 🙂 thanks for your comment!
Sounds like a wise choice. Glad you’ll still be doing weekly post here, though!
Of course! I love this blog. Thanks for reading me!! 🙂
I’ve debated posting twice a week, but then I reconsidered. Once is lagom for me! 😉 I want my writing to be sustainable even when I finally get a job. I love my blog, but it’s my hobby/pro-bono/volunteer/etc.
I also prefer when other blogs only post once a week. That way I can easily keep up and I am more likely to comment.
I figure out my lagom eventually 🙂
I hope to put up more quality stuff now instead of last-minute ramblings, eloquent though they may be 😉 haha!
Hopefully things calm down for you soon. Constantly being busy busy busy can definitely drain you. I hope you have a lovely weekend!
Thanks, you too!
Great post, it seems we don’t even notice when we over extend our time any more. I’m glad you will still be posting, as I love reading what you have to say.
Aw, thanks! I am glad you enjoy reading! I love reading your updates too, especially the projects you do.
You’re talking about the same thing I’ve–probably we all have— been struggling with lately. Minimalism is about finding the most meaningful opportunities and cutting back on the unnecessary. This is a flexible plan. We don’t have to blog 3 times a week like some people somehow manage to do (with pictures! Oh my). Beth Terry at MyPlasticFreeLife has cut back on her posts– now it’s a couple times a month, if that. She’s got a lot of other stuff she’s working on. So do you. And before we shout to the masses what we’ve learned about life, we have to LEARN! The last thing you want is burnout. So chill, post on Facebook a bit, go out and freelance your pretty little heart out. We’ll be here, still commenting on old posts of yours because we like you. And/or we’ll take the convo over to Facebook and socialize the experience a bit more.
I am Caitlin Reed and I approve this message! 🙂
Thanks for reading and keeping up with my Facebook presence too!
Definitely important to keep yourself sane and not put too much on your plate. It’s great your busy though ! I have been really busy lately too and my blog has definitely been neglected a bit. I can’t wait to have some more free time in the new year to work on it!
Me too! Merry Christmas 🙂