Learning how to say "No" and really mean it

OK...OK...I am giving in. I have been given a sufficiently hard enough time about not updating my blog...and now I am sure that it has been long enough that any regular readers I had have given up on me :).

I, as many of my fellow bloggers that I have been keeping up with, have also been extraordinarily busy. It is crazy how busy one person can actually be...which is why I have chosen the topic of today's entry.

It occurred to me about three weeks ago that I have way...way...too many things in my life that require too much of my attention...so much so that I didnt even really have a "life" to call my own. Prior to one week ago, I had seven days of my week planned...and every weeknight but one taken up with something. Typically I dont mind this too much. I like being a very busy person. For the most part, I work better under pressure...and I dont like not having things to do. Actually, when I dont have things to do, I typically look for things to do or get restless...which has brought me to where I am in this phase.

I decided to seek some counsel about my life, and a great man that I admire told me that I need to "Narrow my focus". It seemed that I had said "yes" to so much in my life that the planning side of me couldnt really get my arms around it, and the perfectionist side of me had actually retracted quite a bit. Apparently when I get as overwhelmed as I was this semester, my "production" gets very sloppy.

A prime example...my class this semester is Hebrew...learning a language is a very difficult thing that requires daily study. Basically what I was doing was cramming all studying for that class into one evening which is not near enough...thus, I am way far behind at the midpoint of this semester...Another example would be my apartment. I really cant stand clutter, however, I do take busy times into consideration and sometimes let my apartment get a little messy until a certain point. My apartment right now is so far past that point that I will probably have to have two cleaning sessions. The first of which to get back to my breaking point...and then the second to get it up to par.

One thing that I was made to do before this "counseling" session ended was actually say the word "No"...I have always had the hardest time saying "No" when asked to do something. I am definitely a sucker for helping out any and all people that need help.

Last week I was actually able to say "No" to two responsibilities in my life...not that I feel any less busy yet (this will be the first full week without them), but at the very least I have a little more room to play with in my schedule...and I have another weeknight freed up.

I hope all are doing well...and hopefully I will be able to keep you guys up to date about life or anything I see that deserves some thought with a little bit more frequency in the near future.