This is why we should really stop saying we’re so busy

Being busy – it’s a thing. Nowadays, we’ve never been busier and we love to brag about it. Somehow, we started wearing the busy badge of honour with pride, as it transformed into this new status symbol over the years. If you ask someone how they are doing, they’ll probably say: ‘I’m good; busy. You?’ Almost as if that when you’re not busy there’s something wrong.

Busy, busier, busiest

Somewhere along the way, busy became the new normal. We say: let’s change that, because we’re missing out on real conversation. Moreover, according to this Harvard research no one is benefiting from hearing just how busy you are.

Hustling-confetti

First, let’s not compete over who’s the busiest. Since society values excellence, thriving, and success, we love to brag about our busyness. We love to throw it around like some sort of hustling-confetti and tell everyone how many hours we overworked during weekends or how crazy this new project is we took on. Why is that? Maybe we’re afraid that if we don’t, it would mean we’re lazy? Or mediocre? Now, we all know that’s just silly. 

So, how are you really doing?

Let’s be honest (literally). Today, when someone asks you how you are, it’s more an act of politeness, than pure interest. Which is quite unfortunate, as we really should care how one another feels. So, how about next time someone asks how you are, you just tell them how you really feel? Of course, only if you feel comfortable sharing.

Especially in the workplace we tend to stick to small talk, as we don’t want to burden our coworkers with our troubles or stress. But you know what? It can actually help to vent your feelings or spar for a little bit. What you want to share is up to you. But let’s strive to get back to more honest and real conversations, shall we? There’s nothing wrong with a little more openness. ‘I rather had you not telling me your mom is sick and you’re dog just died,’ said no one ever.

Why being busy is actually the worst excuse

Ever turned down a social invite by saying you’re too busy? Next time, you might want to think that one through. This research points out people rather have you say you don’t have the financial resources instead of saying you’re too busy. With the latter, you risk coming across as uninterested or distrustful, as time tends to be seen as a more controllable resource than money. However, of course it might be best to just not use an excuse overall?

Being busy doesn’t define you

Bottom line? Being busy isn’t an identity.  It doesn’t define your intelligence, proof your perseverance or portrays your ambition. One can put in 10,000 hours, but in the end of the day it’s all about the outcome, the results. So, let’s remove the word ‘busy’ out of our vocabulary and scrape it from our top 3 of favourite catchphrases.

Better yet: how about you put away one dollar each time you use the word ‘busy’ and at the end of this year, you can go on a well-deserved break from all your crazy busyness.

We dare you.