Let’s get busy

Do you ever feel like you’re living a checklist life? That you have more tasks on your to-do list than you have time to complete them?

Are you ever so busy that you don’t get to do the things that would really add value to your life?

Do you ever find yourself with a free minute and then fill it with more busy-ness?

Is there a way to stop all of the madness and quiet the noise in your own head?

Besides… Where does all of the time go?

Busy

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since my last newsletter. I set out to write this month’s newsletter soon after I finished the last one, but it never seems to happen that way. I get so busy with other stuff. I often hear the thoughts in my head that tell me:

“I should really _______, but I’m just too busy.”

I can fill in that blank with soooo many things!! Another important task, workout, sleep more, eat better…

• Do you ever say that?
• Do you ever feel like you’re so busy that your life is out of control?

Bisig

Have you ever wondered…

Where does the word busy come from and what does it really mean? I mean, why do we even pronounce it bizzy when it’s spelled with a “u” not an “i”?

In researching the word, I found that it originates from the Old English word bisig meaning careful. Yes, you read that correctly… it means careful. Back in the day when you were bisig, you were carefully attending to a chore or task.

In later years, the word came to mean consistently employed or continually occupied. It meant that you had work to do. It became honorable to be busy – to have be productive and responsible.

At some point in time, the notion of anxiousness filtered down from the word. So in today’s vernacular, when you say you are busy, you are really saying you are anxious, maybe even overextended and overwhelmed.

Hmmm… isn’t that interesting? Being busy doesn’t have the same meaning any more.

Today’s Busy

Today’s busy is really about the anxiety of believing that we have so much to do.

If you ask someone, “How are you?” You often hear them say, “Busy, really busy.” And this is sometimes followed by a sigh or a slumping posture.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve convinced ourselves that busy-ness can be worn as a badge of honor. Some even miss sleep because they are so busy, busy, busy.

Have you ever heard the competition around the water cooler? It goes something like this…

“I’m so busy. Luckily I only need 6 hours of sleep a night.”

“Oh, I know what you mean. I feel blessed that I only need 4 hours of sleep per night.”

Really? It’s a competition? A competition to see who is more busy and important. Where importance is based on who can function on the least amount of sleep?!?

SPOILER ALERT: High performers sleep 7-10 hours per night!! They sleep MORE not less because they know that across all of recorded human history, man has needed 7-10 hours of sleep to function at his/her best. Any less and they are delusional… okay, maybe not totally delusional but at least less effective.

Now, I typically try to write next month’s newsletter as soon as I complete this one, but I get busy… I get anxious with the other things on my to-do list. So what happens, I put those others things ahead of writing my next newsletter.

But wait, why am I anxious? It’s my time, right? I get to choose what I do whit my time every minute of every day. Just like every minute you have is your time. So why the anxiety? Can’t we just take some time to strategize and prioritize and then gradually work the to-do items off of our list?

Busy-ness creates a new priority

Please read the rest of this article on LinkedIn and be sure to leave a comment!!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/busy-ness-driving-you-crazy-traci-duez-csm-chpc