It's Too Easy To Be Busy

People are truly busier than ever, and that’s not a good thing. 

When you’re busy you’re stretched beyond capacity and don’t know that you’ll be able to deliver on all of your responsibilities…

When you’re busy you’re more likely to deprioritize your own wellness because it seems to have the smallest negative impact, especially when compared to the needs of others who are depending on you…

The things that take precedence in life, that are truly important and valuable, aren’t the things that you’d say make you busy. Busy means stressed and beginning to burn out. If it didn’t have a negative feeling to it, we’d represent that by saying our life is ‘full’.

There are two reasons why it’s so easy to be busy:

1) There’s more to do than ever. We no longer live small and simple lives. The scope of the world has expanded dramatically with the internet. Information and ideas are everywhere and because of that, there’s so much more we want to do. 

This is causing us to feel like we’re falling behind because there are so many more things we’re aware we can have, do, try, and contribute to. Other people are doing it, so why can’t we? Well, it’s because we’re confined by the same 24 hours we always had.

2) We’ve been raised up in an environment that rewards the pursuit for more. Over the course of our lives we’ve been taught that important and valued people achieve more. And as social creatures who just want to be liked by others, we seek validation by adding more to our plate and impressing with our accomplishments.

This has led to a natural state where, to meet that need, we unconsciously take on more. It contributes to a mindset of ‘compulsive productivity’ and is the reason why creating space for ourselves can feel so uncomfortable.

As an overachiever with big ambitions, this has been my story. I’ve been training for this, taking on a new volunteer position for that, hustling a new project for the other… All in the name of hoping other people make me feel good about myself.

And here’s what I learned about that: You try to do it all, you do none of it well. And that makes you doubt yourself even more because you’re not succeeding in the ways you feel like you should, especially for how smart and hardworking you are.

This is why I personally made a shift away from productivity and now consider intentionality to be the North Star in my life.

It’s not about doing more things… It’s about doing better things more, and more things better. 

It’s easier said than done, and if you’re curious, I’ve created a system that serves as my best chance of figuring that out. Click here to give it a look.

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