Annemarie
Sitting down to write this blog, I could not decide on a topic for the life of me. My idea to use song titles as blog titles may have started out as a good concept, but then I started scrolling through my Spotify library of hundreds of songs for inspiration – which wasn’t very effective, as you can imagine. So I had all of these half-formulated ideas floating around. I would settle on one, but struggle to come up with main talking points, and then move on to the next. And then, as “Something’s Gotta Give” by Camila Cabello came on, I had an epiphany (ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration). I realized that this situation mimicked my life! I have so many things to do, and even though I wish I could do all of them, I am always forced to prioritize.
I’ve written about being busy many a time here on Fuzzable. Surprisingly, I haven’t been excessively busy for most of April. However, I’m bracing myself for May, which never fails to be hectic. But even when I’m not busy, I always have way too many things I want to do in a day. In the past few years, I literally forgot that weekends were supposed to be for relaxing. I would still look forward to them, but only because I had long chunks of time to get work done in the comfort of my home. I usually don’t have the motivation to make all of these things happen. So, when this happens, something’s gotta give. Probably many things.
Prioritizing can be extremely difficult. It can force you to make decisions you wish you didn’t have to make. But what happens when you let the same things “give” over and over again? Maybe one day you’ll find you can no longer return to them in the same way. If they’re always at the bottom of your to-do list, should they even be on there at all? This definitely applies to relationships. For example, if you keep ditching your friends to study, it might not be the same when you finally decide to prioritize them.
I have so many hobbies I can talk about that apply to this dilemma. Perhaps the best example is musical instruments. This time last year, I had every intention of learning to play the ukulele. I went out and bought one, started with the basics, and jumped right into learning some songs I liked (a trick I picked up from my years of pretty unsuccessful piano lessons- if I hate the song, I will be way less likely to practice). But soon enough, school started getting more hectic. I had one of my most productive months writing articles on here and CelebMix. So ukulele was inevitably pushed towards the bottom of my to-do list, either replaced by tasks deemed more important or, once I finished those, tasks that didn’t require so much energy.
So maybe you decide you’ll be the epitome of balance. You divide up your life into the most important few sections and take turns prioritizing each one. While this might be an effective system for some, I haven’t been able to make it work. I have some obsessive tendencies and am a textbook perfectionist. So once I’m working on something, or am enjoying spending time with someone, I will want to keep devoting my time to that one thing until I’m completely satisfied. Not when my schedule says it’s time to switch to the next task.
I don’t really have a resolution for all of this. It’s an ongoing, constant dilemma I face that I don’t think will change anytime soon. In fact, it will probably only get worse! But there is one thing I have picked up on. If you feel strongly enough about something, you should probably prioritize it. It can be difficult to justify doing things that aren’t typically viewed as productive or important. But sometimes the only reason you need is wanting to. Because what other reason is there to binge that TV show? To take a long bath? To see friends? To get 8 hours of sleep? While you obviously can’t neglect those glaring “must do” tasks on your to-do list, with the little time you have left over in a day you’ll probably feel guilty for not doing one thing or another. So make time for the things that will make you feel good.
Something’s always gotta give. It’s an unfortunate side effect of the fast-paced world we live in today. But take a moment and look at the things you’re letting “give” and think about whether or not they deserve to be more highly prioritized in your busy days.
As I mentioned, this post was inspired by Camila Cabello’s song “Something’s Gotta Give.” I haven’t been able to stop listening to Camila’s album since it dropped in January. This was one track that I initially overlooked, but after a few more listens I was hooked. If you’ve never heard before, get ready to cry.
I can’t believe it’s almost May. This year is flying by. I’ll be back next month with another blog post!
– Annemarie
(#27)
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