Being Busy-The Addiction
How can being busy shorten my life?
You get anxious. You get agitated. You get fretful, and with that blood pressure goes up. Your heart rate goes up, so your risk for heart attack, stroke goes up. Inflammation gets worse. Your risk for cancer gets worse. Catch colds, flu; it's just bad for your health altogether.
Is there proof our modern, busy lifestyle is dangerous?
Anxiety disorders are on the rise. Accidents are increasing. Any measure you want to use is showing that being too busy is hurting our health, hurting our well-being. And also just general levels of pleasure and enjoyment. A lot of people aren't enjoying life. They're doing a lot but they're not enjoying it as they ought to, and thats one of the results of our modern, busy lifestyles.
What are the three biggest dangers of an overloaded schedule?
Well, first of all if you have an overloaded schedule, you are not going to get done what you really want to get done. Second of all, you are not going to have time to savor the things that you really enjoy doing. And third of all, you are gong to get sick.
What are the top reasons to slow down?
Number one reason to slow down is to enjoy your life. You're not going to enjoy your life if you're frantic, and frenzied, and fronetic. Living what I call F-state. On the other hand if you slow down you'll savor what you're doing. And, second of all, you'll do it better so you'll be more successful.
What are the five best ways to break my addiction to being busy?
Turn it off, TIO. Turn off your cell phone. Turn off your Blackberry. Turn off your laptop. Turn off all these electronic devices. I'm not saying get rid of them. But just turn them off when you are having lunch with a friend, for example. Turn it off. Number 2, Get more physical exercise. Take away the time you are bring frantically busy. Get physical exercise. You will feel better and you will be in a better frame of mind to plan. Number 3, Create boundaries. We've broken down all the boundaries so now people make themselves available 24/7. Well, don't do that. Pick your boundaries and then recreate them. Number 4, Make time for friends, schedule it in. Schedule in a lunch with a friend. Schedule in a tennis game with a friend. Book it into your schedule. If it is in your schedule, you will do it. And Number 5, Prioritize. Everyday decide what are the three things I want to get done today, not 33, 3. Then use that prioritizing as sort of a lifeline to get you through your day without getting sidetracked.
Why are we so addicted to busy-ness?
Being busy is so much fun! There are so many things to indulge our appetites in, especially with all the new technology. Giving us access to way more things then we had access to in the past. It's sort of equivalent to being a kid in the candy store, with a prodigious number of choices. We want some of this, and some of that. The next thing you know we're stuffed, we're bloated and we're getting sick. But it's really born of enthusiasm. We're really excited. And then another reason is we're afraid. We live in insecure times. The economy, or worried we'll lose our job. So we feel this internal pressure to do do do do do. And really that's running scared because when you're in that state you're not doing things nearly as well. Your more likely to lose your job, than if you slow down and do what you do well.
What are the danger signs for busy people?
When you're not enjoying what you're doing, particularly things that you usually would enjoy. So a rushed lunch with a friend, for example, isn't much fun. If you were not crazy busy, you'd enjoy that lunch. Or a rushed working on a project, where you're frantically trying to finish it on time, is not fun, whereas if you had time, you'd enjoy doing your work. So the biggest tip off is when things that you normally would enjoy, you're not enjoying because you're so rushed and busy.
Do I accomplish more by being busy?
No, you accomplish less. You think you're accomplishing more, and that's why you get yourself so busy, you think you're going to get a lot done. Not only do you accomplish less, but what you do accomplish you don't do nearly as well. You know the old saying haste makes waste, it's true. So slow down, and do what you do well.
