I Dare you to NOT Glorifying Busy

Have you ever noticed that when someone asks “How are you?” people respond, “Busy”.

I am as guilty as anyone using this answer.  Not that I am lying. I AM truly BUSY!  But is that really what someone is asking? Or have we just become a society of always moving and going that we cannot even answer with a simple. I am fine and how are you?

I love being busy! I admit to being one of “those” people. I have always had things on my To Do list and I consider myself a slacker if I do not get them all done. At the end of the day, I am already creating my busy To Do list for the next day.

What is it that drives me to be busy? Is it a society that glorifies being busy?  After doing some limited research I found American’s work harder than their peers in most all other similar countries.  My guess it is part of the American way of thinking. We work harder to achieve more and to have more. Which makes me wonder are we really accomplishing that? I have traveled to many of these peer countries and I visited families similar to my own and they had similar lifestyles to my own, yet they worked fewer hours per week and took longer more relaxing vacations. So, I had to again wonder is productivity we seek or do we just glorify busy.

My next thought was; are we more stressed than other countries? From the limited research I did, we are more stressed. According to this article, the key reason was American’s try to fit a lot into their days so we have fuller lives. Ummmm….Are we just shooting ourselves in the foot? Cutting our nose to spite our face? Have we become a culture of busy = success and relaxed or paced = lazy and unsuccessful? For me, the busy has become my badge of honor that I work hard and have earned my home, car and vacation. Which leads me wonder is anyone really watching my glorified busy? Somedays I think I gotta slow down. Then the To Do list mentality kicks in and I have so much I HAVE to get done, that I drive myself mad trying to get it accomplished. Only to be exhausted and still have more to do.

This survey looked only at affluent consumers, and not at other people in these countries, and they found that affluent consumers in the U.S. were the most stressed.

  Percentage of people’s stress levels several times a week per Country.
           Global            55%
           USA               66%
           Australia         63%
           Japan             60%
           Canada          58%
           UK                  54%
           France            54%
           Mexico            51%
           Italy                49%
           Germany        42%
           Brazil              35%
           Hong Kong     31%

Americans also work the longest hours. Again see the connection to busy?  

Tips I Dare myself to do to reduce my “busy”

1.)  Take lunch away from my desk at least 2 days a week. I know I should do this daily. (Baby steps to 5 days a week)

2.)  Create the To Do Lists. I do one for personal one for professional-getting all the things out of my head usually allows more space in there to plan and develop strategies to accomplish all those great ideas without feeling frantic.   

3.)  Reduce the number of items on my To Do list daily. Instead of making a daily To Do list with 10 must do items. I commit to 1-5 items-which allows me to take a breath during the day and deal with the inevitable whirlwind that demands my attention during the day.

4.)  Make my To Do list late on Sunday after reviewing my calendar. Do I really have time for all this stuff?

5.)  Instead of automatically answering the question “How are you?” with “Busy!”  I answer “I’m fine” or “Terrific”. By not focusing my response as “busy” I shift my thoughts to being fine or terrific. Life is a mental game we play every day. Our words matter whether we say them to ourselves or others. 

6.)  Reflection on my priorities, “Does more stuff crammed into my day really equal a fuller life, more success?”

7.)  Learn to say “No” For me, this is one of the hardest things to do. I want to do everything that sounds like fun or could potentially help my career. Be selective and objective when saying “Yes”.  

 I dare you to stop glorifying busy in your life. Now stop and really do it! You’ll thank me later.