I’ve decided that life is crazy. No wonder we’re burned out and desperate for ways to make things easier. Every time we think we’re finally getting ahead, something new pops up and knocks us off balance. That’s the thing about life—it’s unpredictable, messy, and it always finds a way to pile on.
But here’s the part we don’t always admit: a lot of the pressure we feel is pressure we’ve put on ourselves. Why do we pack our schedules so tightly that we barely have room to breathe? Why do we say yes when we should say no, or keep adding “just one more thing” to our day? Life is crazy, but sometimes we’re the ones fueling the chaos without even realizing it.
Here’s the truth: everyone gets the same 24 hours. Still, when life is crazy, it feels like there’s never enough time for anything. This isn’t about beating yourself up—it’s about realizing you’re not alone. Even the most organized, successful people get overwhelmed, fall behind, and wonder how the hours slipped away so quickly.
Life is Crazy: How Are You Using Your 24 Hours?
Here’s an interesting fact: when you subtract work hours and sleep from your day, you probably end up with more time than you think. Let’s do the math together. I’ll use my schedule as an example, but pause and plug in your own numbers as you read:
- Sleep: 7 hours
- Work: 10 hours
- Drive: 1 hour
- Getting ready for work: 1 hour
That still leaves five hours in the day. Five whole hours!
Now, think about your list. What are the top three things you always say you “don’t have time for”? For me, it’s cooking dinner, doing the dishes, and folding laundry. Maybe yours looks different, but I’m guessing you’ve got your own version of this list.
Here’s the kicker: our brain lies to us. It’s not that we don’t have time—it’s that we try to cram too much into the hours we do have. Instead of feeling spacious, those hours feel like a race against the clock. And let’s be honest…the clock usually wins.
And that’s just on workdays. On my three days off, I technically have 17 open hours to work with. Seventeen! But even then, I still find myself saying I don’t have time to meal prep, grocery shop, spend quality time with my kids, clean the house, or call family.
Maybe you do the same thing—look at your free hours and wonder why it still feels like you’re always behind. That’s a lot of time slipping through our fingers. When we break it down, we realize it’s not that life is suffocating us with too little time. Life is crazy because we make it feel crazier than it actually is.
Life is Crazy: Time Wasted is Like Paying Off Debt
Debt is a necessary evil for a lot of people—but the real struggle is actually paying it off. And time works the same way. Think about it: with money, most of us could scrape together an extra $200 a month if we were disciplined. But do we? Usually not. We buy the takeout, scroll Amazon for things we don’t need, or let random splurges eat away at our paycheck. Then we look back and think, If I had just put that money toward my card, I’d be so much further ahead.
I’ve done it too—wasted $2,000 in a single month and later wished I’d used it to pay off debt. The truth is, I had the money. What I lacked was the commitment.
And time? It’s exactly the same. You probably have the hours—you just don’t always use them the way you want to. Maybe you scroll your phone, binge Netflix, reorganize a closet, or say yes to commitments you didn’t even want. Then you tell yourself, I don’t have time to work out, meal prep, or catch up with friends.
But just like with money, the hours are there. What’s missing is the discipline to use them with intention. And when we don’t, it’s easier to blame “life” for being crazy than to admit we’re getting in our own way.
Life is Crazy: Taking Back Control of Your Hours
Here’s the good news: if you can waste time, you can also reclaim it. Most of us don’t need more hours—we just need to use the ones we already have with more intention. Life is crazy, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay stuck in the chaos.
The first step is realizing your hours are valuable, just like money. You wouldn’t throw $100 bills into the wind, but that’s basically what happens when you waste an evening on mindless scrolling, stressing, or bouncing from one half-finished task to the next.
Taking back control doesn’t mean scheduling every single second. That’s not realistic—and honestly, it just makes life feel crazier. Instead, it’s about deciding ahead of time what actually matters and letting the rest go.
Pick one area that eats up your time every day. Maybe it’s your phone. Maybe it’s dinner chaos. Maybe it’s re-washing the same load of laundry for the third time. If you just focused on that one thing, imagine how much calmer your evenings would feel.
Here’s the truth: life will always throw curveballs. Kids get sick, traffic happens, work piles up. But when you know where your hours are going—and you’ve chosen the things that matter most—you stop feeling like time is slipping away. You start running the clock instead of letting the clock run you.
Life is Crazy: Listen to Your Body
Have you ever had one of those days where you’re “busy” all day but somehow get nothing done? You jump from task to task, moving things around, only to realize the same messes are still there. It feels like wasted energy—leaving you frustrated, overwhelmed, and drained.
Here’s the thing: you know when you’re in that mode. That’s the moment to stop. Let your body rest. Give yourself permission to breathe, nap, or zone out for a bit. Rest isn’t laziness—it’s fuel for tomorrow.
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is recharge so you can show up stronger the next day. When life is crazy, pushing through exhaustion usually just makes the chaos bigger and the frustration worse.
Instead, create a bare-minimum plan for those days. Rinse the dishes. Wipe the counter. Toss the garbage. Pick up takeout. Then call it good. That’s not failure—that’s strategy.
Because here’s the truth: guilt builds. The feeling of defeat builds. Negative self-talk builds. And before long, you’ve created a rut that feels impossible to climb out of. By giving yourself permission to do less—and to rest—you break that cycle before it starts.
Life is Crazy: Let’s Make It Less Crazy
Here’s the bottom line: life is crazy. It will always throw curveballs, pile on responsibilities, and overwhelm you if you let it. But you don’t have to live at the mercy of the chaos.
You have more hours than you think. You have more control than it feels like in the moment. And when you listen to your body, stop fighting the clock, and give yourself permission to rest, you turn chaos into something manageable.
Making life less crazy isn’t about perfection—it’s about priorities. It’s about choosing what matters, letting go of what doesn’t, and giving yourself grace in the process. Small shifts—like noticing your five extra hours, creating a bare-minimum plan, or ditching the guilt—add up to big relief.
At the end of the day, we can’t stop life from being unpredictable. But we can stop it from stealing our peace. Life is crazy—but with the right mindset, we can make it a whole lot less crazy.
So the next time you feel overwhelmed, remember: you’re not powerless. You get to decide how you spend your hours, how you talk to yourself, and how you show up. And that choice? That’s where the calm begins.
English