Why do we feel the need to be busy? Is it a reassurance that we are not lazy, useless or boring? Why do people talk about how busy they are? Today, this week, this year? Do we really need to tell each other how busy we are in conversation to make ourselves feel like our life is full, meaningful and worthwhile? We are all busy. As Andrew Dumont explains, busy working, busy with children, school, university. The list goes on. But can we also just be busy relaxing, taking time out for ourselves, enjoying life at a slower, steadier pace?
I believe we can. That we don't need the reassurance or glorification of being busy. I want to decipher the unanswered questions about what causes us to have the need for productivity and always being on the go.
'The Busy Trap' from June 2012 New York Times written by writer-cartoonist Tim Kreider. He explains the need for humans to feel and express how busy they are. He gives a friends personal experience of how she was driven away from the city to relax in a less 'busy' environment. Which offers the question. Is the pressure of having to always be busy an effect of our environment? Do we need time away from our day to day surroundings to relax and spend time being busy for ourselves? Or can we simply be relaxed whilst being in our normal environment? Stress Management From Mind Tools believe a holiday/vacation is 'particularly important', and recommends taking two weeks off as opposed to one as we do not relax until the end of the two week holiday. Is leaving our current environment a form of escapism? Are we needing to run away from the problems, our 'things to do' list for a relaxing holiday, only in order to return to the stress of having to catch up on what we have missed whilst being away?
Another example he gives is a woman who was interning for a magazine. She would not stop her working day in order to take breaks in case she she was needed during that time. This poses another question. Does climbing the corporate ladder have so much significance in our lives, that we need to dedicate so much of our time in order to be successful in ourselves and others eyes? Tawna Fenske reiterates this point. Would unemployment solve the issue of glorifying business as Tim Kreider mentions? Would we all be happier people if there was no work to make us feel stressed and over worked? Here, poses more questions. There is a quote, 'choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life' (Confucius) Does this mean that Tim Kreider does not love his job as a writer, therefore feeling he has to only dedicate 3-4 hours per day, allowing himself to have the idleness he seeks?
Another issue for Tim Krieder and the world is technology. According to Tim, his relaxation time does not include his TV or emails that are constantly pouring in. Technology is becoming faster and more up to date, that we feel obligated to use it. Does technology have a negative effect on humans? Are our emails, phones and computers objects we feel we need to escape or not use in order to relax and unwind? Here are some interesting facts from scoop.co.nz on how advanced technlolgy is keeping people busy, despite its objective to do the opposite.
In this day and age it is said that children are as busy as adults. Extra curricular activities take up their afternoons straight after walking out of the school gate. We worry about the young generation. The amount of time spent using technology such as Play Stations, TV, Xbox, IPhones, Laptops and not enough time getting outside and playing, away from technology. The reason being for these problems is not the need to use technology, but a definition of the phrase 'Keeping up with the Joneses'. Just like climbing the corporate ladder in the workplace, children are now wanting to have the best of everything, whether it be the latest iPhone, computer or game in order to compete and keep up to date with their peers. This is enough to keep themselves, and their already flat-out parents 'busy'. My point here leads to another question that needs to be asked. Our our wants really needs? Is our constant wanting to be the best, have the best of everything the main cause of the suffocation busy-ness can pursue? Are parents constantly busy trying to give their children the best? Is the need to make their children, like themselves, the best to 'keep up with the Joneses?'
I believe that the definition of being busy has changed in a way that we now glorify it, as if it is some measure of success. It is funny that Tim Krieder mentions that the busiest people, tend to the the ones who do not glorify being busy. 'Busy' has now become a stock response to the question 'How are you? How is your day going? I personally conducted a experiment out of my own interest. Working in the hospitality industry, I am constantly asking 'How is your day going?' and 'How are you?' Many people think these questions are not genuine, mine of course was. The main response, funnily enough, was 'BUSY'. Which makes me think. If these customers are so busy, are they stopping to grab some caffeine to ensure they survive their busy day? Or are they purely glorifying being busy, so I would not think any less of them for having some time out?
I have asked a lot of questions, but yet we need answers. We can acknowledge that being busy is a positive, whilst arguing our need to be busy as a negative. Being a busy person could mean that you are more likely to succeed in your goals and completing your 'to do list', which therefore makes you a happier person. In saying this, I am a firm believer that we do not need to glorify being busy or feel any less of ourselves if our diaries are not full of things to cross off the list. I also believe that we need to spend more time taking care of ourselves, enjoying life's moments of idleness, to ensure we are not too wrapped up in competing tasks and not making time for more important things in life like family, friends and enjoyment. We need to worry about glorifying these moments, which we all know are the most rewarding of all.
