Every single day we are gifted with 24 hours. 24 hours to either use or abuse. 24 hours to fill up with in any way that we choose, and life is chalked full of choices, isn’t it?

I admit that one of the most critical responsibilities in achieving success at this adulting thing has been choosing how I will spend my time. The minutes, days, weeks and months pass so much faster as an adult and I find myself often wondering where the time goes?

I fill my schedule with a variety of wholesome and productive activities. Things like volunteering at my church, Directing children’s theater, launching different entrepreneurial endeavors, mentoring youth and, of course, maintaining some social life while I try to be a good friend and family member. Mix that all with my most important job, being a mother, and you’ve got someone who has a quite the busy calendar and who often feels like I belong in a circus as a juggling act.

When the calendar isn’t full, I find myself feeling a little panicked. I feel these small voids within me festering, and instinctually I seem to want to fill my “free time” with yet another activity. It's a cycle I haven't quite been able to break, and a void I am still unable to fill. My soul is, still, and aching for something more. But what?

I have had several people tell me I am the busiest person they know. Some may proudly wear the badge of honor, but the truth is, that at the end of every day this “busy body” has an overwhelmed schedule and an overwhelmed soul. I continue to end up in this position with symptoms that can’t be ignored, and I am forced to ask myself the same question, is it worth it?

Here are 5 signs that you may be suffering from an Underwhelmed Soul.

1. You Rarely Have Time For Yourself. Self-care is such an important part of being an adult. We no longer have people to take care of us. To tell us when to take a nap, eat a meal, or have a quiet moment alone. It is up to us to make sure that we are taking the time to care truly for ourselves in this fast paced society before we can expect to care for anyone else well. When your calendar interferes with things like healthy meals, sleep, exercise or downtime, it’s time to consider making a change.

2. You aren’t fully committed to anything. When your commitments leave you spread so thin that you aren’t able to fully commit to any one activity, it leaves far too many openings for self-criticism because people who over commit themselves are usually the same types of people who are perfectionists. For me, this becomes a huge problem because I want to give 150% to everything I do, but with only 24 hours in a day, it is physically impossible regardless of my intentions and desires.

3. You are exhausted all.the.time. I started to recognize this as a symptom whenever people would ask me how I am doing. I can be in the middle of one of my favorite activities, and I still find myself answering “tired.” I always respond that I am “tired.” The truth is that even during the rare occasion that I am getting enough sleep I am still chronically exhausted because I am mentally wiped out. When my schedule is overwhelmed, my brain is overwhelmed. When my mind is overwhelmed I can’t function and I start to shut down, that is the opposite of productive.

4. Your relationships are suffering. It’s no secret that when we are busy, the time flies. I have found this to be true whether I am having fun or not. What happens when you're especially overscheduled, though, is that you find it harder to stay in contact with the people in your life who truly mean so much. It’s just too easy to let the hours slip away, and you find yourself and your loved ones going days, weeks or months with no contact because the days flew by as you crossed the other tasks off of your long to-do list and you forgot to reach out or failed to respond to their efforts. It seems hardly worth it to lose your support system to an overpacked schedule, and if that’s not harmful to the soul and well-being, I don’t know what is. We have to maintain relationships and make them a priority or they can easily fall by the wayside.

5. You struggle to enjoy the moments. When you're over-scheduled, it's easy to lose appreciation or enjoy the experiences you are having. I mean how can you be truly present and intentional when all you can think about is the next activity or task at hand? I experienced this recently while I was out celebrating a close friend's birthday. I was having a great time. However, all I could think about was what I had on the calendar early the next morning. I found myself checking my e-mail, sending a few texts and mentally takings notes all in preparation for the following day. What I realized is that today does not stop for me to plan for tomorrow, and I need to be better about focusing on the moment NOW so that I don't miss out on those experiences worrying about another future experience.

If you find yourself relating to any of these symptoms, you may be suffering from an Underwhelmed Soul. Unfortunately, there's only one form of treatment that works. Balance. We all have to get better at finding balance and intentionally using our 24 hours in a way that betters us as human beings. If the way we use our time isn't serving us in a way that is beneficial to our personal growth (or our pocketbook), we may need to reconsider how we spend our time and how much we are willing to sacrifice in the name an overwhelmed schedule. We all have choices in life, and one choice we make is how we want to spend our time each day, and how many things we are willing to juggle. The problem is we often forget to ask ourselves at the end of each day "do I have an Underwhelmed Soul?" And if so, what can I eliminate in order to find some peace and balance.

The important questions that only you can answer for yourself.