Commitment in Life

I listened to a podcast recently about a software developer saying yes to every opportunity that comes his way. He said, “How can I say no, right?!”

He then related that he is feeling burnt out. I am nowhere at the same level as work life balance in the UK is relatively better than in the US (as he was), but I understand what he said. It’s a bit hard to say no. And when you agree to something, it feels bad to not to be able to participate/join/contribute. This feeling has been growing in me as my work has been increasing a bit lately but my ‘willingness’ is not being controlled at the same rate. I still give commitment as if I have a lot to spare.

I did recently decline to contribute to a study group that I have been involved for a while. I felt bad. But I have been trying to juggle this commitment among others, and it has started to get me towards being ‘squeezed’. I use that term because I don’t think I was stressed out, yet. So now I have to reconcile the feelings with the reality.

I have been watching a few productivity videos recently that I stumbled upon, and this resonates with me greatly. I laughed out loud when Jeff got lost of how Ali Abdaal organised his life, just by scrolling his phone for 5 seconds. Point is, I agree with Jeff that most times we don’t need the complexity.

So now I am thinking that I need to do two things (I realise I keep writing about things that I need to do but I assure you, I do do these things, haha)

1. Simplify systems in my life.
2. Simplify my need in life, as in accept that I can’t have/do/give everything.

Let’s see how that goes.

Thank you for reading.