How many times have you found yourself unintentionally entangled in a ‘battle of the busies’ with your girlfriends or colleagues? You know the ones we’re talking about, the convos go a little something like this. “So how’s your week been?” “Yeah pretty good, I’m just so busy with work, how’s yours been?” “Oh don’t even talk to me about being busy; I have so much on my plate at the moment”. Whether you’ve said it out loud or the thought crossed your mind, we’ve all been there, but why is it that we’re all so desperately vying for the crown of Miss Busy?
Being busy doesn’t make you more successful.
Being busy doesn’t make you more important.
And being busy definitively doesn’t make you any happier.
Do you think Barrack Obama bores his friends with tiring tales about his hectic schedule? While there definitely are those times we all stretch ourselves a little too thin, for the most part, it’s for reasons that are out of our control – be it a huge project at work or an unforeseen family drama. But for some reason, being ‘busy’ is now glorified and is something we’ve become fiercely defensive of, but why do we see it as a badge of honour?
Before we start playing the blame game, there’s no single factor, nor person to point the finger at, and this shift is the sum of a lot of little things: social comparisons, career standards, society pressures… the list really does go on. So instead of entering the competition, here are a few things your quest for busyness might be affecting…
Productivity and efficiency
This sudden obsession with being busy is actually quite detrimental not only to our health and wellbeing, but ironically enough, to our productivity too! Just because you have 1382 tasks on your to-do list, it doesn’t mean you’re going to necessarily complete all 1382 tasks well. Learn to prioritise your tasks and delegate accordingly, that’s what friends and co-workers are for.
Success and self worth
Just because your best friend is under the pump and pulling 14 hour days at the office, it doesn’t make her anymore successful than you, and it definitely doesn’t make you any worse at what you do. Life happens and everyone’s agendas fill up in unique ebbs and flows, so quit the comparisons and learn to roll with it.
Happiness
If you think a chock-a-block schedule will score you a one way ticket to happy town, it’s time to shift your mindset. If you’re constantly honing all of your attention on a never-ending to-do list, you’re detracting the joy and happiness that’s happening in the here and now. Free time doesn’t make you a bludger, it makes you a human.
Remember, like sands in an hourglass… these are the days of our lives (yes I went there). Do you really want to spend yours ticking off items on a never ending to-do list? Save and print this quote to remind yourself that you are too blessed to be stressed.