One of the major statements we hear today is “I'm busy” or “I was busy.” This has gone on to become a prevalent excuse many people give for defaulting on one engagement or the other. Be it a call missed, a plan for an event unattended, or unavailability for a gathering or function. This has left me wondering if we are really that busy or if they are just excuses or we're just misleading ourselves about the idea of being busy.
Perhaps, we could be busy. But even at that, it doesn't take away the fact that being busy isn't equal to being productive. I read a post some time back on this same discourse here on the blockchain. It was enriching and it exposed much concerning this subject. The message passed in that post reiterated and resonated well with the concern I've had on this matter.
In the same vein, I came across a post which I presume was from X (formerly Twitter). It suggested that the really busy people reply to messages faster. Reason being that they don't like to keep things unfinished or attended to. It left me considering if we are indeed busy by what we term as being busy. We've heard a lot of this statement. I've seen many of my peers say we are busy, even to the point that it affects our relationships with people. Well, it could be true that we are busy.
However, I had to consider this matter personally at some point. What I can say is that, in many cases, the validity of being busy is true. The big question is, busy doing what? And where is this busy life taking us? It should be clear that being busy doesn't translate to being productive, as opposed to what the statement sounds like. Maybe the seriousness it gives makes for the extreme and overuse.
A person can be busy, doing things that add no value. Can such a person be denied the claim that they are busy? No. They are actually busy doing something which could mean nothing. The matter that should be addressed is, whether we are being productive as we claim to be busy. It doesn't have to be momentary results or products. Nevertheless, is it yielding something, even if little, in the midst of the busy life?
What is mainly experienced is an unending loop of busy schedules. We sometimes wake up, do this thing and that thing, and at the end of the day it feels like we're not getting there. While there's a place of process through a journey of growth, there's also the need to recognise that being all busy can be void of true productivity, but rather a cycle of activities bombarding us even when they could be necessary.
There's a need to honestly define what being busy really means and whether we're being that busy for a good cause. Perhaps, what's needed is to streamline some things and see what needs to be done. A scale of preference could help. A lot of things can get us busy, sometimes genuinely. A lot of things can take up our day. As much as it looks like we're making headway, we could be in a loop; going nowhere while constantly moving. This should be a matter of personal reflection and action.