No, no one is really 'very' BUSY!

In the last 5 years, I have moved back and forth from my hometown for work. I am finally back. Why am I saying is because with my coming back, my relatives far and wide, while not sure if they are happy to have me back or no, they definitely want to meet me. And I don’t want to. So what do I say – I say I am very busy. So much so that I really have no time to pick up the phone to make a call. I am so busy that I live between office and home.

I have kept up with this excuse for a long time now. I have canceled meeting friends, family and even going out because I am too busy. But am I too busy? No. Yes, I do have a huge, never-ending list of things to do, but I put them on a backburner because I like to think I am too busy. In short, the idea of being ‘too busy’ is a farce. It is an excuse we use in abundance.

Constantly telling ourselves that we are busy is in a way training our mind and body to believe it. It causes us to overthink, leaving little or no space for thinking about ourselves.

How many times have you shouted out aloud – I AM BUSY. Yes, you are and so is everyone.

I am sure each one of has a huge to-do list which has an invisible extension charm as it is ever growing. The point is, everyone is busy but if we have time to be busy, we have time for everything else.

Most of my conversations with (almost anyone) these days start and end as:

X: Hey! How are you?

Me: Hey…hi! I am well. How are you?

X: I am good. Been so long, na?

Me: Yeah…

X: Let’s meet up! Saturday free? Sunday bhi chalega!

Me: No… I am busy. End of the month. Blah. Blah. Blah.

There… I gave out the excuse without even thinking. Constantly thinking we are busy actually makes us procrastinators. We tell ourselves that we are busy is in a way training our mind and body to believe it. It causes us to overthink, leaving little or no space for thinking about ourselves. With so much going on in our head, at work, on the personal front and with us being ‘busy’ we actually don’t end up doing anything. No wonder, the to-do never ends! There is no sense of accomplishment but only that of fatigue – mental, physical.

We cannot blame ourselves entirely. In our day and age ‘busy’ is often equated with hard working and efficient. Busy means putting more than 8 hours at work, browsing and answering emails at night and on holidays. In short, busy means we have no life. We make these sacrifices for our career or so we tell ourselves. Even children today are busy – they juggle school, extracurricular classes, dance, hobby, and God knows what! But at the end of this ‘busy’ tunnel, lies exhaustion.

Often times, we bite into more than we can chew! If one happens to be at work on time and leave at 6 PM, that person doesn’t care about work ethics, they are lazy and unmotivated. But have we really cared to check? What if that one person is the real efficient one?

Sadly, we have been equating success on all levels with being busy. We seek validation for this too and get it. However, this is nothing to be proud of. In our struggle to maintain our busy-ness, we may have overlooked many important details, moments of fun, even sleeping. Busy is not adding anything to our lives.

Try to do this – if an odd cousin calls you out of the blue or if a nagging friend wants to meet up, simply say no if you don’t want to but don’t lie to yourself that you are busy. Busy is boring, it is unreal. Be real. Don’t give into peer pressure or other people’s expectations. Don’t be busy. Do things at your own pace.

Be you. Live more. Do you agree with you?