The trap of being “busy”

Vagablogging :: Rolf Potts Vagabonding Blog

An exhausted designer in a studio. Photo: John Lambert Pearson / Flickr.

“I’m busy.”  When your friends and family say that, what’s the impression you get?  Do they sound stressed out?  Or is it almost a kind of bragging?  A sign of being important and sought after.

The New York Times had an opinion article titled The Busy Trap.  Maybe not consciously, but do people use the excuse of “being busy” to avoid looking at the big picture?  For example, trying to stay on top of work when the bigger problem of whether they’re in the right career?  Thinking about what to buy, instead of what kind of life do they want to live?

We want to believe that we matter so much that things could not get along with us.  Truth or self-delusion?  Check out this excerpt:

Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day.

One of the best benefits of vagabonding is that it encourages you to slow down and think.  When I’m back home in the States, sometimes it feels like society and work conspire to prevent me from doing either.  “Busy” can be a noise that crowds out your inner voice.  Travel strips away the familiar people and routine, forcing you to look at the world (and yourself) in a much more direct way.  Seeing alternatives will trigger you to consider possibilities you hadn’t known existed.

Do you know people stuck in the “busy trap”?  Share your stories in the comments.

Original article can be found here: The trap of being “busy”