Are We Trying to Do Too Much?

Posted: Friday March 28, 2008 under Lead Myself

If you’re like me, these months are a busy and stressful time. We’re coming off the holiday slump and ramping up for the new year (at work and at home). The question is: Are we overwhelmed or are we getting it all done?

A 2005 study conducted by Day-Timers, Inc. found 60% of 1,000 surveyed workers said they always or frequently feel rushed. Workers who felt very or extremely productive fell from 82% in 1994 to 50% in 2005. And, workers who felt very or extremely successful fell from 40% in 1994 to 28% in 2005.

In short, the workers in this survey felt significantly less productive and successful than workers surveyed a decade ago.

Are we trying to do too much? Are we expecting too much from ourselves? Do others expect too much from us? Are our lives becoming unavoidably more hectic and complex?
Perhaps we should take a hard look at how we define our own success and productivity.

Over our lifetime most of us can expect to spend:

• 2.5 years driving
• 6 months waiting at red lights
• 5 years waiting in line
• 6 years eating
• 2 years trying to return phone calls to people who never seem to be in
• 1 year looking for misplaced objects
• 23 years in bed
• 7 years in the bathroom
• 8 months opening junk mail

These activities alone add up to about 50 years of our life!

We spend about 45% of each day meeting biological needs (8 hours sleeping, 2 hours eating, 1 hour dressing and grooming) and another 40% of the day at work. That’s 85% of the day and we haven’t accounted for paying bills, shopping, cleaning house, and other chores!