The cult of BUSY

The cult of BUSY

“Hi, how are you?”
“Great!  I’ve been so busy! You?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been so busy, but I’ve been good.  So tired, though…”

“Yeah, I get that.  I need a holiday, but it’s just too busy at work and everyone needs a piece of me…”

How many conversations have you had like this?  How many times have you equated being busy with being successful?  How many times have you sat down to take a breath, then quietly castigated yourself for wasting time, doing nothing or being unproductive?

I recently had a conversation about productivity, taking time to do nothing, the very finite number of hours in a day and how we live in a society that rewards us for simply spending time at work rather than necessarily being productive at work.  We are praised for ‘putting in the hours’, but not necessarily recognised for the actual output of those hours.  More than that, as a society we look down on time spent doing nothing or time spent on the self and call it wasted.  This couldn’t be further from the truth in my mind – time spent on the self is incredibly important.

I find myself repeating to people that self care is not a luxury  – it’s a necessity.  This means that time spent on the self if certainly not wasted – it’s essential for all aspects of health.  Physical, mental and spiritual health all rely of having time available for rest and personal development.  When that time is restricted, when we are encouraged to spend close to half our day at work, the opportunity for personal growth, proper rest and true health are severely restricted as well.

I’d love to see a time when a better work-life balance is truly attainable for the majority of people, when time spent on the self is seen as valuable and necessary.  I think that will be a time when mental and physical health improves for all.