There Is Time for Everything, but Not All the Time

When you are stuck in the cycle of the groundhog grind, you are often juggling multiple priorities and responsibilities. It can be overwhelming and almost impossible to juggle it all. Even when you do juggle it all, not every priority receives equal love all the time. 

While our priorities may overall stay the same, we can go through ebbs and flows. We can change how we spend our time on each priority. The reality is that if you have multiple priorities, it’s unlikely you can give 100% to everything all the time. Something has to give. Unless we are willing to give something up entirely, we must be willing to move our focus to where it needs to be.

There Is a Season for Everything

Just as the world around us changes with the seasons, our lives take on seasons of their own. If we are engaged or recently married we may be in the season of focusing on our relationship. After just giving birth, we may be in a season of total focus on our new family. When we have a big work deadline or recently obtained a new job, we may put increased energy into our career. Every season, no matter how long or short, often provides us with an inherent area to focus on.

Life events, whether small or large whether planned or unplanned, can rapidly shift our focus. While we can come up with goals for the entire year, we have to be willing to pivot. We must be flexible with adapting to the ever-changing demands that life brings.

Our Seasons May Be Fleeting

While we can experience seasons full of big life changes, we may also experience brief fleeting seasons within the span of a year or even months. 

For the first couple of months in a year, we may focus on starting a workout plan and spending extra hours getting in shape. In early spring we may focus on getting our homes in order. By late spring perhaps we shift our focus to putting in extra hours at work. By summertime, hopefully, we give ourselves more time to spend relaxing with family and friends.

No matter what our schedule is or where life pulls us, if we have multiple (and often competing) goals, we have to be willing to change our focus to where it is needed.

Giving In Doesn’t Have to Mean Giving Up

Giving into one priority, while we put our other priorities on the back burner, doesn’t have to mean we are giving up on our other goals. Consistency is important in achieving goals. However, if you have multiple goals, it’s likely you may have to scale back on others for a time.

We don’t need to give up on our goals. Nevertheless, we may need to back off in certain areas of our lives so that we can put increased energy into the key focus of our current season. The amount of time we have is a finite resource, so we need to be realistic about how we spend it.

You may establish priorities and goals for focusing on family, friends, work, play, fitness, and a passion project at the beginning of the year. However, if you have too many goals, it’s simply not possible to keep up with them all at the same time. If you try to conquer too many goals at once, you will most likely be left with disappointment. Be reasonable with yourself. Accept that you can do it all, just not all the time.

Don’t Lose Sight of the Big Picture

While we can go through each season, moving our focus to where it needs to be, we can stay cognizant of the bigger picture. We can be honest with ourselves about how long we are willing to spend our focus in one area, and when we need to shift back to our other goals.

Always come back to the beginning where you can center yourself. Don’t stray too far away from your other priorities if it’s not right for you. Find your balance. Stay grounded in what’s important to you. If you are forced to stay in one season too long and it’s tilting your balance off too far, find a way to get yourself back.

Just as a Ferris wheel stops for each passenger car as it goes around, we can make stops for each goal. We can make sure all our goals and priorities receive the proper amount of attention.

While we can’t do everything all of the time, we can do it all in our own time. There is time for everything, but not all all the time.

Thank you for Reading: There Is Time for Everything, but Not All the Time

Thank you for reading There Is Time for Everything, but not all the time. Now I want to hear from you. How do you juggle your goals and priorities? Are you able to provide consistent attention to all your priorities all the time?