When you think of fun, four-letter words that need to be banned, you generally think of the colorful adjectives and nouns that would get you sent to the principal office back in your younger years. But, there’s another FOUR LETTER word that’s much more commonplace, yet equally detrimental. It’s a word I can guarantee every single one of us says on a near-daily basis.
“I’m BUSY.”
How was your day? BUSY.
What have you been up to? Been BUSY
How’s life? BUSY
Being BUSY is a trap. It’s safe and dare I say comfortable. It’s a way to appear NORMAL. It’s a way to justify (to yourself more than anyone else) that you are on the right path. And, it’s a way to humblebrag just how important and awesome you are to your colleagues, friends and even total strangers.
However in reality, all being BUSY is an illusion of our “so-called success.” Making this herculean show of just how BUSY you are by constantly bragging about working 100+ hour weeks or pulling all-nighters or flaking out on family and friend events shouldn’t be celebrated and worn as some sort of sick and twisted badge of honor. Instead, it should be worn as a badge of douchebaggery and shame.
There’s nothing cool about being so BUSY that you are essentially going through life on autopilot. If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far- that’s not living. That’s barely existing. And, it’s a fast track to burning out.
If you think about it, the real winner(s) are the ones that come up with creative ideas, get all their shit done in a timely fashion, make spur of the moments plans to hang out with friends and family, get 8+ hours of sleep a night and still have time to binge-watch the entire season of Orange is the New Black all without once saying how busy they are.
For that, I challenge each and everyone of you to stop using I’M BUSY as a crutch. After all, when’s the last time you postponed your always growing to-do list to actually “live life” or even just do something completely unproductive with no guilt?
The spontaneous road trip or weekend getaway
Grabbing a drink with friends that you have blown off week after week.
Or, even just spend an entire weekend binge-watching a TV show.
A funny thing happens when you accept that it’s okay to not always be SO BUSY all the time. You actually wind up more productive, creative and dare I say HAPPIER. So, how are you going to free yourself from the busy trap?
