Are You Too Busy To Get Anything Done?

Is our obsession with being busy just a cover for not getting things done?

“Worky work, busy bee!” — That guy from the FedEx commercial who doesn’t have much going on

Seriously. What is up with people bragging about how much they’re working these days? Is life a contest where whoever works the most wins?

Hours worked has to be right up there with the weather for common topics of conversation that offer no value to either the speaker or the listener.

Consider which scenario is more likely:

1. Someone put in 80 completely focused and productive hours of work this week, last week, and the week before. They truly feel good about themselves and just want you to know.
2. Someone is trying to sound impressive while excusing a recent lack of meaningful contributions to family, friends, community, or self-development.

Whenever I’ve heard myself offering up hours worked as a topic of conversation, I’m usually in camp #2. Basically I’m afraid of being questioned about my progress on something, so to prevent that, I offer up how busy I’ve been as a preemptive defense.

Sure, there are times when my job has asked too much of me, and I’ve answered, “Yes, you can take my life out of balance.” In those times I agreed that what was asked of me was worth spending a lot of time on. In that scenario I typically haven’t felt a need to talk about how many hours I’m working, only to do my best work and then bring life back into balance.

Business is not about busyness. Let’s agree to be impressed with each other’s ability to live a full life, not simply to fill up time. Next time you notice yourself responding, “Busy!” when someone asks how you’ve been, double check to make sure what you don’t really mean is “Lazy.” The truth will set you free.