In my eight-plus years of writing on this blog, I’ve never once written, edited, and published a post all in the same morning. I’m usually much more calculated (read: indecisive) than that.

But as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, and I’d say these particular times would qualify as “desperate.”

This isn’t the book launch I had planned.

Over the past couple of weeks, my family and I have been navigating the loss of someone we love dearly. My sister-in-law became ill and passed quite abruptly, leaving our family reeling. In one text message, life went from manageable to impossible.

Strangely enough, my new book How to Be Busy asks the question: What do we do when it all matters most?

That’s exactly where I’m at right now. I just had no idea that the words I spent years writing for others, would end up being the very words I’d need myself.

This Isn’t Just Another Book About Slowing Down

When I agreed to write another book, I never could have predicted how hard the year it published was going to be on me.

In fact, the very first outline I submitted was for a completely different book. It was supposed to be a book about how to clear your calendar and create a simpler, less chaotic life. (Wouldn’t that be nice). Tentative titles included things like The Unbusy Life, The Intentional Life, etc.

However, while I sat in front of my computer, life started picking up speed in a way it hadn’t before. No matter what I did, where I cut back, or how intentional I was with my day, I kept experiencing bouts of busyness and overwhelm. And the last thing I wanted to do was write a book that felt inauthentic.

That’s when I realized the world doesn’t need another book about how to avoid busyness and chaos- because those things are an inevitable part of life. They aren’t actually avoidable.

Real life is here to constantly reminds us that we’ll never minimize, simplify, essentialize, or habitize our way to an easy life… just a more present one.

So I shifted gears.

Instead, I wrote a book about living an intentional life even when life is chaotic. It became less about busy prevention and more about embracing the season you’re in. About pulling beautiful moments from the chaos and living present and attentive regardless of your current circumstances.

Little did I know how much I was going to need this very book at this very moment.

Despite my inability to give it the attention it deserves, How to Be Busy has quietly found its way into the world. It didn’t come with all the pomp and circumstance I had anticipated- but I’m proud nonetheless.

In a season of heaviness, this lighthearted guide has shown up anyway. And maybe that’s exactly what it was meant to do.

How To Be Busy: Unhurried Living Even When Your Calendar is Chaotic

Busy isn’t the enemy. A full calendar isn’t a failure. Sometimes it’s just life—with people to care for, goals to chase, and chaos that shows up uninvited.

We don’t have to choose between unbusy and too busy. Instead we can learn to be busy well.

Available now where books are sold, borrowed or listened to.