You’re not really that busy

You’re just saying that

May 09, 2022

Hey there —

Are you sitting at your desk right now clicking between your Inbox and Slack?

Thinking about all the things you wish you could do if you weren't so busy?

Let's be real – you're probably feeling the compounding effect of presenteeism. It's the idea that your productivity and performance are enhanced by the fact that you're physically present at work.

If you’ve worked in any corporate environment, you’ve probably seen this play out in real time through office gossip.

“I can’t believe Oscar from accounting took such a long lunch break.”

“Did you see Pam left early three days in a row?”

Or in our virtual work from-home worlds, “Why has Jim’s slack status been inactive all day?”

As a result, we’re glued to our desks and obsessed with keeping our status online as often as possible.

But if you've been spending more time playing Wordle than completing projects, are you really getting things done?

The idea that more hours spent at our desks equals better work simply isn’t true.

A 2014 study from Stanford University proved that productivity per hour sharply declines when a person works more than 50 hours per week.

After 55 hours of work per week, productivity was found to be essentially non-existent.

This implication that more hours means more commitment has led us to glorify the words “I’m too busy.”

And that's only forced us into this monotonous routine of saying "I'm too busy" ahead of actually considering how we're spending our time each day.

You can’t go out to dinner with your partner because you’re too busy. You can’t go out for drinks with your friends because you’re too busy. You can’t go on that family vacation because you’re too busy.

Maybe you actually are really busy. Maybe it is really hard to take time away from your work.

But self-awareness of when you’re actually busy versus when you feel you need to say you’re busy is vital.

Being busy isn’t a personality trait. It’s a quick road to burnout.

So if you’re spending 8 hours keeping your Slack status active, consider if you could get your work done in 4 hours of deep focus. Consider how you’d feel, physically and mentally, if you weren’t chained to your desk because of some archaic pressure.

What would your life be like if you didn't let "busy" stop you?

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While there are lots of ways to approach such feelings, it can often feel overwhelming figuring out where to start.

In this article, Leo takes us through practical first steps you can start trying now, as well as long-term steps for a less-overwhelmed future.

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When you think back on a situation, do you usually only notice the negative details?

This bias of mental filtering, or selective abstraction, can have a pretty detrimental impact on your personal growth.

Dr. England lays out the differences between constructive criticism and harmful self-talk, as well as how to manage this cognitive distortion so you can prioritize positivity.

Coffeehouse

Newsletter | by Alicia Sekhri

Working from home but missing the coffee shop ambiance?

This weekly newsletter highlights playlists of different ASMR coffeeshop videos to fill your virtual caffeinated craving.

Pull up a chair, put your headphones on, and hammer out some work as the espresso flows.

Written by Nicole Tabak