Have you ever had this conversation with somebody:
Somebody: How have you been?
You: Busy… ::sighs & smiles::
Somebody: That’s better than the alternative!
This seems to be pretty common in the world. It’s happened to me. I’ve overheard it with others. Somewhere along the way it became almost a badge of honor to be really busy.
It’s probably not a new thing. I’m sure for decades and maybe even longer people have been trying to work as hard as possible to be busy or to look like they’re busy.
But there are definitely some downsides to being busy or feeling busy…
1. Busy doing what…
There are tons of things that can keep us busy today.
As just one example, I remember when smartphones really came into the mainstream with the iPhone around 200-2008. People started getting them. Then within a couple years just about everybody had one.
Obviously that’s what everybody remembers now.
Being in Internet marketing I remember most people thought that people would use the Internet with their phones more than with their computers. The feeling was that people would use the Internet about the same or a little more. And that was a pretty good assumption.
But what actually happened was that we continued to slowly increase or Internet usage on our computers while also surpassing it with our smartphones.
Smartphones just absorbed more of our overall time. Time we spent doing what? Hobbies. Family. Friends. Work. All kinds of things. It didn’t come at the expense of computer time. It came at the expense of everything else.
Smartphones are one example of us being “busy”. Social media. Email. Twitter. News alerts. Games. All kinds of things. Even if it feels important, like following the news or checking Instagram, it probably isn’t.
And it’s not just smartphones. If you’re feeling busy, look at your daily activities and figure out what you’re busy doing…
2. No Time For Important Things
Let’s say you’re busy with important things. Like work. That can seem like a good thing. But let’s also say that you feel too busy. That’ you’re missing out on important things.
And that can be different for you from others. Important for one person might be dinner every night with the family. For another it might be one night a week. For another it might be making time for a hobby twice a week.
Take the time to reflect on what is important to you. Usually there is something at work along with a hobby and probably family as well. Then think about the time allotment that makes you happiest.
Then try to figure out how to make that a reality. It’s easy to get out of whack when everything is competing for our time. We have to take control of it.
3. No Time For Reflection
Speaking of reflection…when was the last time you sat alone and thought about your life. Maybe something as simple as why you do the work you do. Or what you want to do tomorrow. Or even about what you want to have for dinner tonight.
Scheduling time to reflect is very important. But most of us kind of float through the days and the weeks. Our attention is taken up by all kinds of things from work to our phones and more. We just try to keep up and we don’t really take time to reflect on the questions and issues in our lives.
And nothing ever changes.
4. No Time For Rest
We all know that rest is important. Sleep. Napping. Just taking a breather from having a busy mind all the time. And I don’t necessarily mean watching TV or scrolling through Instagram on the couch.
Make sure you’re scheduling time for consistent sleep. Probably the same timeframe each night. Your body will function better and you might not spend as many hours working, but the hours you do work will be better.
Most successful people get a good night’s sleep. They prioritize it. They have to or they burn out fast.
Final Thought
Do you feel busy most of the time? Do you feel proud of that fact or are you just doing it to seemingly impress others? Maybe you don’t want to be this busy. Realize that there are things taking up your time without you even realizing it. Take time to audit your days and weeks. Then schedule out what you actually want to be doing. Cut things out. Prioritize the things that are most important to you.
Then set a time to do this same exercise every six months.