book review: how did i get so busy?

i'm a busy girl. just juggling my job, my boyfriend and trying to keep myself fed pretty much takes up all my time, so i had to wonder just how i was going to fit anything more into my schedule. but given that a big part of the refabbing project will be making more time for things like hanging out with friends, exercising, actually cooking, making art and a whole host of other inspiration-focused activities, i knew i had to find a way.

enter the book: How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most, which i came upon randomly during a trip to my local library.

now, this is not a time management book. it doesn't tell you how to shave precious minutes off your daily chores or how to squeeze out pleasurable activities in tiny chunks between meetings or on your way to pick up the kids. instead, it asks you to really look at where you spend your time to help you re-prioritize what you do and how you do it.

each day serves up a topic, such as "hurrying up is slowing you down" then provides a discussion of that topic, a related challenge, a journal assignment and a one-minute meditation. going through the exercises helps reveal places we may have let shoulds overwhelm wishes and provides insight into how we can turn it around.

the chapter on creating daily rituals has already had a huge impact on my life. i already knew that i needed to make time to meditate, do stretching exercises and eat a real breakfast in the morning. but how? by looking at what i spend my time on in the morning i realized that by changing my before bed rituals to including pulling together my next day's clothes, pre-packing my lunch and by paring my morning journal writing from 10 pages to 3, i would have plenty of time to add what i needed. it was shocking to me how little i had to do to create time for things that have a huge impact on my health, productivity and happiness.

i definitely recommend it.