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While there is value to productivity in today's world, it's also important to have time when your brain is not 'busy'. Busy-ness is a problem!
You ask anyone how they are doing these days, and chances are you will get a standard single answer “Busy”.
There is a crisis affecting our generation. Showcasing ‘busy-ness’. It has to stop. Busy-ness is a trap. We moan, brag, and compete about how busy we are. Everyone is obsessed with the idea of being busy. Busy-ness has become a sign of your importance. A few engage in this consciously to impress others and for a few it’s a way of procrastination.
Being busy is different than talking about how busy you are. I call it busy-bragging.
Is this because as a culture, we tend to value people who are busy? Is it because we’re afraid of looking lazy if we aren’t as busy? Or are we stretching the truth to get out of some responsibility? Chances are, it’s some combination of these factors.
We use busy-ness as an excuse for why we’re not doing the things that matter. We use busy-ness to feel better. When we talk about how busy we are, we’re often looking for acknowledgment. We associate a packed schedule with achievement and status.
I have figured out that busy-ness doesn’t equate to significant or value-adding activities. Instead of making us more productive, busyness often holds us back. Not only can it make us exhausted and stressed, but it also can prevent us from moving our careers forward.
The real culprit is a socioeconomic system that relentlessly instrumentalises everyone, forcing us to become productivity machines, valued by our output alone. Busy isn’t always productive. Being busy is not a badge of honour. When you are too busy, you become less creative, less imaginative and less engaged.
When you start your careers, showing a bit more effort and staying longer are easy ways to signal your commitment, which helps you advance. Having goals, tasks, to-do list sound really interesting. But never try to be busy for the sake of being busy.
Technology has made it easier to feel busy all the time. One study found that average person touches their phone more than 2,000 times a day. Another found that people preferred receiving electric shocks than being alone with their thoughts. We’ve never had a generation in the history of the world that’s had less time alone with their brains. (That’s why people often say they come up with their best ideas in the shower — it’s the only time they’re not with their phones.)
People think they are helpless when it comes to being busy. They are busy because of the workload, boss, organization and so on and this helplessness is even more repercussive. When people feel more busy, they tend to spend less/no time on personal development, creativity, long term problem solving and growth.
The reality is that it is impossible to be busy all the time, and beyond that it is seriously unhealthy. And spending time on social media can never be bragged as being busy. You can be more selective with your time to focus on what really matters in your life and career.
Actual quality time spent is so important for future productivity, energy and emotional well being. The busiest people in the country don’t have time to spend with their friends and loved ones. Their friends gradually drift away from them, and their romantic relationships and family bonds suffer.
You should get to spend quality time with the people most important to you on a regular basis .Breaks and vacations are equally important. Spending time with yourself without indulging in social media is more important than anything else in today’s time and era. Focus on a life and career with meaning, value, and joy. Don’t forget to add playtime to your day.
At least for some time in your day, keep the phone away, turn off the notifications. Don’t allow the phone to follow you into the bedroom. When you free your mind and take more control over your life, you can stop feeling trapped by the endless need to do more and more.
Why brag about how busy you are when your responsibilities are actually relatively limited?
Stop The Busy Brag. Work smarter, not harder.
Image source: Fauxels from pexels
Gender Equality Advocate, TEDx Speaker, Social Reformer, Sociopreneur, Human Rights Activist, Pad woman of Odisha , Writer, Motivational Speaker, Art connoisseur... An impenitent, non-conformist, adventurous, boho soul and an admirer of life. Loves my Indian read more...
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