This is a trend I have noticed for some time, maybe you have too, where a person’s schedule is so completely jam-packed that there are few opportunities for them to fit in an activity they really would like to participate in.

When the pandemic gave the world a multi-month forced recess from our daily grind I saw that even in this new environment some of the same people were dealing with the same issues of busyness and activity overload.

I wanted to reference Derek Sivers and his incisive thinking on this issue and how it may be of some help. From his blog:

Those of you who often over-commit or feel too scattered may appreciate a new philosophy I am trying: If I’m not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something then I say no. Meaning: When deciding whether to commit to something, if I feel anything less than “Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell Yeah!” - then my answer is no. When you say no to most things, you leave room in your life to really throw yourself completely into that rare thing that makes you say, “HELL YEAH!” Saying yes to less is the way out.

Tim Ferriss adds this: To become “successful” you have to say “yes” to a lot of experiments. To learn what you are best at, or what you are most passionate about, you have to throw a lot against the wall.

“saying yes to too much “cool” will bury you alive and render you a B-player, even if you have A-player skills. To develop your edge initially, you learn to set priorities; to maintain your edge, you need to defend against the priorities of others.

Once you reach a decent level of professional success, lack of opportunity will not kill you. It is drowning in “kinda cool” commitments that will sink the ship.

You need to stop sowing the seeds of your own destruction.

Remember, “No” is a complete sentence.