I took a much-needed 10-day ‘staycation’ where I did nothing work or school related. I used this break to spend time with Jen and Rooney while enjoying some of my hobbies. But, I felt anxious about this when people asked me what I had been up to. Immediately, the need to be ‘busy’ crept in. I felt like less of a person and less of a leader because I hadn’t been doing anything.
Why do we believe that if we’re not busy, people will perceive us as lazy? When we see someone who isn’t living life at a mile a minute, we say things like ‘must be nice,’ or ‘ well if I didn’t have _____ then maybe I could _____.’
Being busy has become a status symbol. It’s now something we say to make others think we are important or to save face when we haven’t seen someone in a while. It’s also a coping mechanism for some, to avoid the difficult things they’d rather not face.
Of course, there are difficult and busy seasons of life. Yet we often create our own busyness or exaggerate it for the reasons listed above.
My top reasons to avoid self-created business:
1. We aren’t as present when in continual motion, even if it is for something we perceive as good.
2. We mistake this motion for progress. I’ve written about this before here.
3. We don’t have time to invest in what matters: relationships.
I’m committed to taking time to relax, enjoy life, and of course work hard on behalf of the families I get to serve. My hope this year is to be honest about my workload, as well as work-life balance. I’m going to stop being proud of being busy, and be proud of a work-life balance.
Sean D'Abreu 