Are you one of those people who always has something on your to-do list? Maybe it’s not something terribly creative, but you make a pact with yourself that every day you’re going to keep your house clean, exercise, do crafts with your kids, and maybe even do a little something for yourself, like read a book or keep a mindfulness journal or actually go to your freaking yoga class.

I like to say that you CAN do everything. Just not all at once.

Maybe you have big goals. Maybe you have a lot of goals. Maybe both.

An you probably read a lot of articles online about either how women can and should do it all, or about how we can’t do it all, so we should stop trying. Well, I believe both are kind of right and kind of wrong.

When you get an idea or set a goal, it’s easy to want instant gratification. But shit takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. You know how it goes. And what do you typically do? You start toward your goal, you get sidetracked/overwhelmed/bored/redirected. And then you start toward a new goal. And then you remember your old goal. And then you realize you just can’t do it all, you throw your hands up, and you give up completely.

Here’s something that’s really important to remember: It’s not all or nothing.

Trust me, I am the very person who needs to hear that advice over and over. I struggle with balance, because I usually feel like I’m either on or I’m off. I’m hardly ever in between. But I feel like I would flow very nicely as a balanced person, dancing freely between the all and the nothing. And when I do, everything still gets done. And some things still don’t get done. But the flow is the important part.

Here’s something else to remember: “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

That little piece of genius didn’t arise from my own brainpower. It’s a quote by Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism.

It’s really powerful.

Sure, nature could have done things faster. But when you look back, isn’t it crazy how MUCH nature has accomplished? And you can see that every step was necessary to get to the next one. You can’t force a flower to bloom without encouraging it to sprout and grow first. And it’s going to go just as fast as it is supposed to. And, even if you do absolutely nothing, your entire garden will be taken over within a matter of a few years.

So shit’s gonna happen. Yes, you will be more productive if you remain motivated and focused, but being productive and focused will still not make everything happen all at once. And you don’t need it to.

Want to take things a little more slowly and get everything done, just not all at once?

Check out my FREE program, the Find More Time in 7 Days e-course.

In this course, you’ll:

  • Break through some of the barriers to getting shit done
  • Find more time (and learn how to use it more productively)
  • Organize your overwhelmed brain
  • Find a way out of the lost maze you’re in

And it’s designed for busy moms, so it’s not going to ask you to add MORE ANNOYING SHIT to your day. (Not much, anyway).

If it’s not for you, maybe you know someone who could use it. Share it with her… she will be psyched that you did.

Find more time e-course

nature mindfulness quote