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How are things?” A friend inquired. I answered, “I’ll take some time to relax when things ease up, but it’s busy right now.” Recently, I’ve noticed that whenever someone asks me how I’m doing, I always respond with some variation of this response. “A lot of work, but maybe next week will be better.” Constantly being busy can make us feel productive, which is comforting, but isn’t there a chance that we’re too busy to enjoy life?
Unfortunately, being busy is not an option for some people. Not everyone has the luxury of managing their time as they see fit; some parents work two jobs to make ends meet, while students work part-time to pay for their education. However, a lot of people do possess this flexibility, but they constantly go from one work to another without pausing to consider whether they are truly enjoying it. Or am I genuinely too occupied with these chores to appreciate life?
According to research, people will often do whatever it takes to be occupied, even if it seems pointless to them. Being “crazy busy” is a numbing tactic we employ to avoid confronting the realities of our lives, according to Dr. Brené Brown of the University of Houston.
Since pausing would require us to take stock of our current situation and what we want out of life, we fear being inactive. We would like to remain on the hamster wheel at times because the gap seems so great.
Being occupied serves as a protective mechanism. It’s a means of avoiding simply existing. Having obligations, due dates, and a lengthy to-do list We may think we are heading in the correct direction, or at least in a direction, if we overstimulate our senses. However, we frequently get stagnant due to the never-ending loop of chores we complete without giving them any thought. At the end of the year, who among us joyfully looks back at our old to-do lists and exclaims, “Wow, I tackled so many tasks this year”?
The quality of our work should be taken into account when gauging progress rather than the amount of work we generate. not only the output’s quality, which is typically assessed using measures created by outside parties, but also the influence it has on our physical and emotional health. Given that work takes up such a significant portion of our lives, it is sense to ask questions such as, “Did the work feel intellectually stimulating? Did I learn something new? Did it help me cultivate my curiosity? Did it give me the opportunity to connect with interesting people?”
Heraclitus is claimed to have observed, “You cannot step into the same river twice, for other waters are continually flowing on.” Like a river, time flows. You will lose these moments and never get them back if you are too busy to enjoy life—too busy to go on that trek, too busy to learn how to paint or play the guitar, too busy to spend time with friends and family, or too busy to prepare a lovely meal for yourself.
It might seem too late to you. It isn’t. Time anxiety, the persistent feeling that it’s too late to begin or complete something new, is something I personally suffer like many others, but the truth is that you most likely still have many years ahead of you. One of the best things you can do for your future self is to define what “time well spent” means to you and create room for these times.
The next time a friend asks you if you want to hang out or learn something new, and your first response is, “I’m just too busy,” take a moment to think about whether you are truly too busy, and if so, whether being busy will benefit you more in the long run than learning something new or spending time with your friend.
It’s okay if you are genuinely going through a brief stage where you are working on an exciting yet demanding project. In reality, engaging in such activities that you are deeply passionate about is nourishing. However, if you find yourself saying “I’m just too busy” a lot, you might want to think about whether you can be that excited for so long.
Once more, you’re lucky if that’s the case. The issue is that we typically don’t even think about the possibility that we’re numbing our thoughts with work. It’s good to be occupied with an interesting job. It’s not being too busy to enjoy life, spend time with those you care about, and reach your greatest potential. If you are among those who do have a choice, think about taking advantage of your good fortune.
