Simplify: Don't Try to Fill Too Many Roles

Today it seems like most people fit into one of two categories, they are either overwhelmed with how much they have to do or they are lazy. Sometimes people are lazy because they have too much to do and know they'll never get it all done, so they don't even try.

The problem of having too much to do starts with giving ourselves to much to do; we try to take on too many roles. We try to be every member of a team ourselves instead of letting others join our team. This doesn't even have to mean things that work like a team, sometimes we just try to be it all. For example, if you're a web designer, worship leader, photographer, Sunday school teacher, janitor, and office manager, do you really think you're doing the best that can be done in all of those roles? Are you able to give all of them the attention they deserve or wouldn't it be better if others were able to take on those roles so that every role was being filled to the best of each person's ability? We're not meant to be great at everything, that's one reason we need others.

I'm currently reading The Confident Woman by Joyce Meyer and in it she talks about how we are not supposed to fill every role, we are not meant to be good at everything. We will feel much better about ourselves if we focus on the things we do have talent in and grow in those things instead of trying to create talent for ourselves where we don't have it. Moreover, when we try to fill every role, taking on tasks that we're not so good at, we're depriving the person who is talented in that area from doing what they're supposed to be doing.

So, if we stop trying to wear everyone's hat, we'll feel much better about ourselves and can give ourselves the change to excel in the things we are talented in. We will be less stressed and we won't feel so bogged down by having too much to do.

Other ways to simplify your life:

Create reasonable goals for the day

Don't make a to-do list. To-do lists can make your tasks seem like chores (well, sometimes they are) but looking at a crowded to-do list can make you feel depressed and then you won't get anything accomplished well.

Cut out some of your activities: Don't try to read 5 books at once. Let someone else take on some of those roles. If you've been trying to be a good cook for years and you're still terrible, it's time to move on, there is something you're great at. This may seems a little too simple, but for me cutting out activities meant reducing the number of RSS feeds I subscribe to. Having too many made it like a chore to go through them all, but when I only keep the subscriptions I really enjoy, I can get through them and actually enjoy them, and afterwords I have time left for other things.

Romans 12:3I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

4-6In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.

6-8If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

That's all for now.