Being busy

Being busy is always something we yearn for when we're not busy. The grass is always greener on the other side.

I was just in a situation where I did have a lot of time; a year or whatever in this pandemic weirdness, summer, then even going back to uni- I found it relatively easy on my time. Recently I've just acquired a new job, and life is a lot more hectic. In combination with Church, running, writing, going out with friends- it's a lot to balance.

But it’s through being busy that you work out the stuff that really matters to you.

The big problem is that when you're not busy you accept everything to avoid the notion you actually are bored. We feel uncomfortable in our own company and simply doing nothing so say yes to everything.

This leads to your yes’ losing value.

Saying no more highlights to people that you're a busy person and ultimately they won't mess you around recognising your time is valuable.

Similarly, I found the more time I have, the less productive I become.

Parkinson’s Law highlights this- work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.

I see this happening all around me. If you have a long 8-hour shift, but the work is not keeping you busy what do you do? you're gonna do your tasks incredibly slow, incredibly unproductively just so you just move away from feeling like your not doing nothing.

But when you have so much on your plate you have to be efficient. Your brain shifts from ‘I’ll do this sometime’ to ‘I’ll do this as soon as I get a little spare time’. You become more grateful for time and use it better.

So you navigate how to fit all your work in.

It's no simple task though because we are conditioned to look longingly at those days where we are just relaxing.

You wonder why going on holiday, celebrating and partying are the most popular posts on social media? Because they don’t challenge the viewer to get off their ass. Yet, when you are off your backside working so hard you think you should be on a beach because that is what ‘everyone else is doing’.

Ultimately nobody did anything interesting by being the same… but that’s a whole different debate.

Anyways I believe staying busy is what we all actually desire. I think inside of us all; we want to achieve something, we want to make a difference, we want to feel like we are doing something. Being busy is an objective representation of that.

The problem is we want to be busy with easy things- but it is consistently remaining busy with hard tasks which is a necessity within the graft of reaching success in a given field.

Being busy by doing the hard stuff is tough though because we always see the end picture which is romanticised on social media. We don't see the practice, the hard hours, the labouring alone behind the desk.

So I'm busy now, but I'm not complaining.

I'm using this time to sculpt a better version of myself. Busyness enables me to prepare myself for the future. It prepares my heart for a better perspective for new opportunities- potentially unattainable beforehand if I was idle the whole time.

If you can be effective in time you don’t have any control over and remain calm and productive in events you don’t initiate think of how you will be in situations you do control?

Instead of meandering around trying to fill the space, I hope you see busyness in this new perspective.