“Busy is the new Stupid” – Warren Buffet
He said in a conversation with Bill Gates about time. Being crazy busy has become a badge of honour and a message to your colleagues and friends that you must be very, very successful. WRONG!!!!
It has been found that the most productive and successful people, we come across who are busy, but you would not know it. They find time that others do not. And while you may not get much of their time, when you do you get undivided attention. They are fully present and maximize every moment of the interaction. No multi-tasking because that is as bad as blowing you off altogether.
Being busy is good, but showing off being busy is not. In today’s world, we come across perennially busy people. Despite huge technological interventions in our day-to-day lives, we lead a life that is full of time and resource constraints. We are stressed about some or the other matter. We try to multi-task and achieve perfection in whatever we do. This causes a lot of psychological burden and we are busy all the time. If we do not plan our time well and keep complaining: Oh! I do not get time for anything; I am always very busy. Is it good to be in such a situation consistently? No!! It adversely affects our mental and physical health.
It has been noticed that most of us waste time on some pretext or the other. We invest our precious time in things that we should not. And that means we have fewer hours to invest wisely, on things that do matter. That might be improving our professional skills, pursuing a tremendous business opportunity, investing in a hobby, or simply spending more time with the people we love. We do none of these, and time starts slipping out of hand.
Here, we need to design our time well. We should plan our activities in a way that we get maximum output. It may be difficult, but not impossible!
If we are busy, we are considered successful, and as successful people, we generally can control our time, yet we fill it with endless meetings, conferences, and lunches that leave NO time to THINK! So, is that Stupid? Yes, it is stupid not to leave time to think.
“I’m not busy, I’m just prioritizing my tasks like a true superhero.”
We do it out of habit as we try to accommodate others while not wanting to miss out on life. The instant world we live in all contributes to being Busy with a capital B. When we are asked how it is going, we say “I am so slammed” or “I am so crazy busy,” and it is mostly true.
There are very few people who keep busy, yet they take out time for everything. They indulge in a lot of activities and spend a good amount of time visiting family and friends. They pursue hobbies nicely and are the apple of the eye in their social circle. This is the way one should be. What is life if you do not devote one hour of the day to your health and one hour to your passion? If you can do this, you are successful.
“Being busy is like a rollercoaster ride, full of twists, turns, and unexpected surprises. I would not have it any other way.”
What is a busy life?
Sometimes the feeling of suffering from something called busy life syndrome is due to the haste with which we want to do everything so that we can move on to the next thing, pecking away at activities rather than immersing ourselves in them.
Is a busy life better?
Staying busy is a great way to combat negative emotions and stay positive. When our plans are in progress, we feel hopeful and motivated. Often when we are busy, we do not have time to dwell on feelings of worry, sadness, loneliness, anger, or jealousy, which can be a good thing.
“I don’t believe in downtime, being busy is my way of making the most out of every moment.”
So, if you find yourself apologetically telling someone that you would have liked to meet them, and could have responded to them, or just acknowledged their existence but could not because you have been so busy.
The real messages you are sending them:
- My time is more important than yours.
- I am not very good at prioritizing my time.
- I want you to judge me based on how busy I am, not how productive I am.
- You are not a priority, or at least what you want to speak with me about is not a priority.
Will it make you happy? Will this make your people happy? No!
It is not only in our ‘work-life,’ this scenario rules in our personal lives too. I am sure you must have some friends or family who are always late. Or always moving a catch-up with any person or occasion? Chances are that they are also struggling with efficiently managing their time. No one is perfect, but if it keeps happening, it is a repeat behaviour and one that suggests their time is more important than yours.
This way “Busy becomes the new stupid”.
