In light of my day today I felt compelled to share these tips. There are some times that I feel I've taken on too much. But there are also many times that I purposefully do not take on too much in order to prevent burnout. There is so many things to be done in a day, so many choices, and so many people. But my advice is to not spread yourself too thin, I think we all are trying to prevent that. Some are better at it than others, but some just want to do everything and be everywhere. Take these tips from me, to not let this happen to you.
1. Be selfish. Many people get over committed because they are people pleasers. If someone ask for your help and you are a kind person you want to be of service to them. But realize that you can't help everyone, you have your own things going on, and there are only so many hours in the day.
2. Realize the consequences of over committing. The last thing you want is to get so over committed to so many things that you find yourself having to pull out of your commitments. If you were to get overwhelmed at what you have going on, while healthy for you, pulling back could be hard on those you had already committed to.
3. Know what your priorities are. If you know you love working with youth, volunteering with a youth organization may be a lengthy enough commitment. You may get opportunities to volunteer in areas that you aren't quite so passionate about so keep in mind the things that you love when making your choices.Your don't have that much free time and you can't do everything, so you have to pick and choose.
4. Keep in mind the commitments that you can't back out of. Your personal time, health, job, and family already require a lot of time from you. These are generally things that could suffer when committing yourself to other things. Make sure you are not making too big of sacrifices for things that are important to you.
5. Be okay with saying no. When someone asks you to be a part of something sometimes you don't want to let them down. It's even difficult to say no to their face. Phrases like "I respectfully decline" or "I can't take on any more right now" can help to let the person down nicely. Not to make excuses, but help them to genuinely understand why you can't commit. It's not a crime to say no, and its not a crime to think of yourself when being careful not to stretch yourself too thin. When you think about it you are actually doing yourself and them a disservice if you commit but can't give your all.