What does Busyness do to us?
For the next 4 weeks I will be blogging articles on various topics related to the new online Programme, ‘Radically Reconnect’ my associate Lise Melvin and I have developed. They cover topics most of us have experienced or even are experiencing right now: e.g. busyness, anxiety, and loneliness. Today’s topic is busyness, which may resonate with you considering the current circumstances we are living in at the moment. How busy are you?
When people ask you how you are, do you often find yourself saying, ‘Busy’?
Are you working 12-hour days and telling yourself that your type of job requires this level of dedication?
Do you have never-ending to-do lists on your phone, fridge or computer?
Whenever I ask a dear friend of mine how she is, without fail she tells me she is busy. Sometimes she says it, while catching her breath from endlessly juggling her home life and her demanding job as a line producer. Other times, she wears it as her badge of honour, something that gives her worth. At least that is how I experience it. I know she does have moments where she just is, but these are never mentioned or acknowledged.
She is a wonderful professional, mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend. Yet, she often feels overwhelmed, short-tempered and tired.
It is true that we are busier than ever. According to British psychologist, Dr. Richard Wiseman (1), the overall pace of life has increased between 10 and 30% worldwide since the mid-90's. And most recently, due to the Covid 19 quarantine measures, many of us have had to adapt to working from home, which requires many adjustments and therefore adds to the pressure on our time. Not to mention the extra strain regarding additional home-schooling responsibilities some of us may have.
There is no denying it, most of us, live our lives on the superhighway of work, family and social demands. Not to mention our interconnectivity through social media. “Roughly 45% of the world's population use social media, with an average of 2 hours and 23 minutes spent per day on social media…60% of users say they are constantly connected” (2). This all contributes to us being continuously engaged and living overly scheduled lives.
Added to the actual increased demands during our waking hours, there is also the element of perception. Being busy is perceived as a good thing, as something that is valued, especially in North America (3). Some of us give down time a bad rap, something that is for those who can’t handle the pressure (4).
Whether real or perceived busyness is central to most of our lives.
Busyness by definition isn’t a problem. Some of us thrive when busy. If we feel energized by what we do and fulfilled, all is well. But there is a tipping point.
This is when we start experiencing symptoms of stress, like for example: feeling drained, anxious, quick tempered, having headaches, tummy aches or other stress related physical symptoms (5,6). In the United States, stress is now the number one health problem. 70-90% of visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems (7).
Research has found that busyness and associated stress are also not conducive to productivity. At work, when busy and stressed, we become hyper focused on the most immediate, low value tasks rather than on the bigger more complex pieces of work (8).
When we move from busy and productive to busy and stressed, we start overstretching ourselves mentally and physically. Physiological changes happen to our bodies, such as an increase in cortisol production, which when prolonged can have adverse consequences such as high blood pressure and also increase in anxiety, depression and addiction (9).
The antidote is to slow down, increase physical activity and seek social support (5). We have all heard it and read about it. But, we are on that super highway with no exit and in 5th gear. We know something doesn’t feel right but we don’t know how to stop.
We have forgotten how to be in moments of spaciousness and rest, like when children watch in wonder how the wind blows dandelion seeds into the air.
To break the pattern, some of us need a helping hand to stop and take stock. Help with identifying the big or small changes within our reach in our day-to-day and reconnect to a sense of being and not just doing.
In our 6-week ‘Radically Reconnect’ programme we bring you a deeper sense of insight into your habits, patterns and actions. You will also explore ways to incorporate new habits, behaviours and practices into your life. Identifying where you can take back some time for yourself to replenish and slow down.
If you’re curious, you can reserve your space now. For questions or individual coaching please contact me.
Sources:
(1) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-power-slow/200911/how-can-we-keep-in-fast-paced-world
(4) https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160909-why-you-feel-busy-all-the-time-when-youre-actually-not)
(5) https://www.inc.com/laura-garnett/are-you-stressed-or-just-busy-find-out-now.html
(6) https://www.verywellmind.com/how-the-glorification-of-busyness-impacts-our-well-being-4175360
(7)https://www.stress.org/americas-1-health-problem
(8) https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191202-how-time-scarcity-makes-us-focus-on-low-value-tasks
(9) https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response