“How are you doing? Answer, “Oh I’m very busy.” I want to respond, “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that”, or “So you’re busy but are you being productive?” Busyness is a poor substitute for productivity. Busyness is the enemy of productivity. I believe busyness is a sign of a lack of focus.

One dictionary defines the word busy as, crowded with or characterized by activity. Busyness – lively but meaningless activity. Three words jump out at me, crowded, meaningless, and activity.

Crowded – At work we pack our schedules going from meeting to meeting, with no gap in-between. If our schedules are full, others will think wow, we must be important and are getting a ton of work done. The average office worker checks their email 11 times an hour. (That’s 85+ times per day!)

Meaningless – Often we hear the phrase “Oh they are doing busy work”, engaged in activity, but don’t seem to be getting anything done. Other words that describe or imply busyness are “My plate is full.” I’m buried, overloaded, or swamped. I’ve got too many irons in the fire.”

Activity – We are conditioned to say yes to anything and everything our employer asks us to do, and at any time of the day. We are a distracted workforce and have lost the ability to concentrate or pay attention for any significant amount of time to engage in focused work.

Try this: check and respond to email only 3 times a day. Turn off the notification bells. Instead of scheduling back, to back meetings, put a 15-minute gap between meetings, take a break and reorient. Block out time in your workday for uninterrupted focused work.

Busyness isn’t just an issue at the workplace but also in our homes. How is it that the one place where we should be able to find rest, solace and respite – our homes – have become anything but? When did life become so frenetic that we think every waking moment must be filled with activity?

Especially for our children. Swim practice, ballet, piano, football, soccer, summer camp, moms trying to juggle schedules, spending half their day transporting their children from one activity to the next. It’s exhausting as a parent, and our kids are exhausted. They need rest and down time too. We put their names on waiting lists for the best prep schools and have them take pre-SAT tests well before their senior year. We act like if a child doesn’t know what they want to do with their lives by the time they hit double digits, they’re going to be a loser. We push our kids to do more and more. And for what, so they become like us,  overly busy, stressed out, and burned out?

No wonder they experience anxiety, panic attacks, and are on medications. Can we hit the pause button please? Let them experience the joy of childhood! Train them up according to their bent – and craft activities toward that bent, play to their strengths. May I encourage you to schedule rest and build healthy rhythms for your family. You don’t have to fill every waking moment with activity.

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