Over Committment

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Getting back to my original outline from the March 22nd... The first cause for disorganization is OVER COMMITMENT. We all do it. If you have a job, a spouse, children, other family, and friends your already have a lot to balance. Add to that your kids school, their extra curricular activities, your extracurricular activities and you definitely have a lot of commitments. Nothing we do comes without what I call "ADD-ONS". Those are all the little extras that are attached to everything you're involved in like the phone chains, money collections, unnecessary meetings... BEWARE of ADD-ONS! They suck away your time and wreck your schedule!
When my kids were very young and I lived in another city, I attended a women's fellowship group. The women who opened each session was a gifted speaker and storyteller. One of the things I took away from one of her opening messages, was that we all have different obligations at different times in our lives. Our commitments need to match the stages in the different times in our lives. Otherwise, too much conflict and stress is created.
Easy to say, I know. Set rules for yourself and all those "attached" to you for the time commitments you and they make. For example limits need to be made on how many sports activities in which a child participates. It affects the whole family! Each family needs to decide what works for them. For me, it means picking volunteer commitments that work with the obligations to my family and work. There was a time when I chose to make large 2 year obligation for a volunteer commitment at my kid's school, but I chose to make that commitment when it would fit in with the particular stage in my (& my family's) lives. Simply put, I only take on one large volunteer task at a time and then will take on a few smaller ones during the year. The smaller ones will be "do it in a day" type things. Things that are a firm time obligation with not other strings attached like bringing food to someone or setting up an event on a particular day.
I have found it easier to say "No, I can't commit to that now, but (if it is something I feel compelled to do) I would like to next year when it will fit our family schedule better." or "No, this isn't something I can commit to now because I'm committed for XYZ." It is easy to feel justified saying "NO" if you have boundaries set up before you are asked to commit to something. ...and don't forget, you can always say, " Can you give me some time to think about it. I need to make sure I'm not over committing." Also, don't forget to get some definite answers on what does this commitment entail both time wise and otherwise.