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In all of the previous jobs that I have held, I can think of at least one occasion in every workplace which involved someone being asked how they were going. Every single time the reply was something along the lines of “busy mate”, or maybe it was “crazy busy, but ya know, I’m good”.
Now I get it, there are a some jobs and some people who are busy all of the time. Every single day. No matter what they are working on. To any of those people reading this, I want to say that so long as your health is taken care of, and you are happy, then that is fantastic! However, a lot of the time in the workplace, when people are asked how they are going, they reply with “good, busy – but good!”, like some kind of knee jerk reaction.
A lot of the time, this kind of reaction is simply not true, and certainly not healthy.
From my own personal experience, as well as hearing about the experiences of others, I feel comfortable in saying that far too many people wear being ‘crazy busy’ as some kind of badge of honour. As if to be worked to death, to the detriment of all else in your life, is a good thing because it shows that you are committed and that you care about your job.
I recently spoke to someone in their early twenties who commented to me that at their old job, they routinely worked 12 hours per day and a half day on Saturdays.
I asked them why they changed jobs and what their future plans and goals were, and they had absolutely ‘no idea’. Of course they had no idea, their busy job hadn’t given time them any time to reflect and think!
Now don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no issue with people being busy at work if they are truly committed and love what they do. I remember the film director, Ron Howard, once commenting in an interview that he loves what he does, so he “doesn’t need any hobbies”.
People who are passionate about what they do, and put in the hard hours out of love for the craft, are often the most wonderful people. However, there comes problems when people feel like they ‘should’ be busy – all the time – in order to be taken seriously by others or to be seen as “genuine” or a “hustler”. There is nothing wrong with hustling if you have a goal in mind, there is a lot wrong with fetishising the idea of hustle for hustle’s sake.
I want to end this post with a challenge for you. The next time that you are on top of everything and someone asks you how you are going, be honest with them.
Say “things are going well, and everything is tracking along smoothly”. Inversely, if you are not on top of your work and are tired from working too much, I challenge you to answer along the lines of “I’m overworked and tired”.
This honesty and acceptance that being busy is not a good thing unto itself is important for us to develop.
It is important for us to realise that time not being busy is essential for us to recharge, take stock of ourselves and our surroundings, and re-engage with our priorities. If we fail to do this, we may miss great opportunities, or fail to acknowledge what is really important to us.
After all, no one has ever been on their deathbed and said “God, I wish I spent more time in the office”.
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