In the past, the standard reply to the question “How are you?” used to be “I’m fine, thank you for asking. And you?”
But these days, the question “How are you?” tends to be replied by a comment similar to “Aiyoh, I’m so BUSY-laah!!” followed by a long litany of complaints about how busy the person is. Which then usually results in the hapless inquirer, also launching into a lengthy counter-diatribe on how busy he or she is!
In fact, this exchange of “busyness” stories can go on for quite a while, with each person trying to establish that he or she is “busier” than the other!
And at the end of the conversation, how are both parties likely to feel? Yes, you guessed it…busier than ever! :)
No doubt, it cannot be denied that the advances in technology seen over the past 10 to 20 years, have resulted in people being busier than in the past. For starters, people work much longer hours – the consequence of “always-on” technologies blurring the lines between the office and home, work space and personal space.
Because employees are always reachable via their smartphones, they are “expected” to respond to emails, take phone calls and teleconference even after office hours, sometimes into the wee hours of the morning. The situation is compounded by the lack of flexi-time options in most Malaysian companies, which results in office workers wasting an inordinate amount of time trapped in traffic jams during peak hours. The higher cost of living also requires both husband and wife to work full-time.
As a result, there generally seems to be too few hours left in the day to get everything that needs to be done, done. And hence, the all-pervading, overwhelming sense of “busy-ness”.
But in addition to the general scarcity of time faced by the average office worker, there is also the prevailing perception of “busy-ness” as a status symbol, a badge of honour, something to be shown off with pride. Sometimes, people boast about how busy they are, to prove a point to others that they are important, in-demand, popular and highly successful. They feel that if they admit to not being busy, people will assume that they are losers, without much going in their lives.
They fear being “looked down upon” by others and perceived as being unimportant. The “busier” they say they are, the better they feel about themselves. So they take on more and more, and feel busier and busier.
However, there is a negative side to being this different type of “busy-body”, so to speak. The constant feeling of being too busy causes us internal stress, and puts unnecessary pressure on us. It harms the way we communicate with each other, the way we connect with people we love, and interact with the world around us.
Constantly feeling “too busy” and harassed, causes us to de-prioritise important things such as taking care of our own health and nurturing our relationships with our loved ones. It could also harm our emotional state, resulting in mild to severe forms of anxiety disorders brought on by a constant feeling of being overwhelmed and stressed out.
How to avoid the busyness trap?
Try these simple strategies below.
1. Change the way you communicate.
Consciously stop yourself from saying “I’m so busy I can’t do x”, “I’m too busy to do y” or similar. Instead, focus on changing your internal dialogue so that you see yourself in charge of your own time, and in control of how busy you are. For example, you could say to yourself “I choose not to allocate my time towards doing x or y, because I would prefer to allocate it towards completing z”.
2. Increase your efficiency and focus.
As a general rule, we all have a lot more time than we think we have. This is because we spend a lot of time day dreaming, taking breaks, procrastinating, surfing the internet, checking emails repeatedly, updating Facebook, taking unimportant phone calls and chatting with our colleagues. Instead, focus on completing the task at hand and put yourself on the clock.
If you have 2 pieces of work to complete in 1 hour, it means you can spend half an hour on each. Push yourself to work faster and concentrate harder, to get the work done within the allocated time. You’ll find that this strategy helps you to achieve more in the same space of time.
3. Identify your priorities and cut out time-wasters.
Spend the first 15 minutes of your day planning exactly what you are going to do that day and how long you are going to spend on each task. Of course, you will need to build in a buffer for unexpected developments, but as a general rule, minimize time spent at meetings and on phone calls.
Encourage people to email you instead, and respond to all those emails at a time more convenient to you. If you must speak on the phone, schedule the call, make notes of what is to be discussed, and get straight to the point.
4. Make detailed lists and keep track of the to-do items.
While there are all manner of high-tech gadgets and productivity apps out there, nothing beats the simplicity of a pen and a paper notebook when it comes to keeping track of your to-do’s! Have one notebook for your daily tasks and another for your weekly and monthly tasks.
Having all the things you need to do whether for work or your personal life written down in an easy-to-retrieve format, makes the action items look more doable. This will help you feel less busy and harassed.
It’s certainly worth making a conscious effort to avoid the busy-ness trap as this will not only improve your performance at work but will also improve your health, relationships and general quality of life.
