How busy are we really?

If you ask the average British citizen how their day has been, chances are the answer will be short and to the point: ‘Busy’. We are a nation of busy people. A world of busy people, really- though our culture is considerably more hurried than others. Our lives can be so busy that we burn ourselves out with ‘doing’, becoming exhausted without really noticing because we’ve downed enough coffee to keep us awake for the next hour.

The fundamental question though is this- is busy a good thing?

There are three kinds of busy-ness. There is meaningful, productive and enjoyable busy-ness. This is the good kind.

There is the kind where you’re working long hours for a job you hate and then have to come home to the washing and the cooking and the shopping. Necessary busy-ness, but not necessarily meaningful or enjoyable. This is the kind I suppose most adults experience.

The last kind is the busyness we all claim no matter who we are or what we do, the kind we use as an excuse when we are asked to go the extra mile. ‘I just don’t have time.’ To this last one, I really feel I must protest. There are some for whom this answer is the unfortunate truth, but so many of us are guilty of wasting time that could be better spent doing something else, and then claiming we were too busy to do it.

The worst offender, in my own personal experience, is the big F. Now, I’m not saying Facebook doesn’t have its uses. At uni especially I find it invaluable for keeping up with all the events that I need to be aware of- study related, or otherwise. It’s great for contacting people easily, and for keeping up with other’s lives and making them aware of what’s happening in your own. But if you’re anything like me, you’re guilty of spending unnecessary amounts of time browsing through photos of random friends (don’t tell me you never do that because I bet you do), facebook chatting to people you barely even speak to in real life, and spamming everyone’s news feed with links of your new favourite youtube cat video. And then we complain that we’re busy.

If you don’t do this, I sincerely commend you. There are other examples of course- TV, workaholic-ness (I know that’s not a word), or washing your car every weekend (I don’t actually know anyone who does this but I’m sure they exist).

What I’m trying to get at is that sometimes we need to re-evaluate the meaning of busy-ness. There are times when it’s perfectly OK to veg out in front of the TV, of course, but there are also times when we could probably plan our time more wisely.

Something I struggle with is making time for just me and God. I work full time, as you probably 

know by now, so when I get home it’s late, I’m tired, and I just want to relax. Somehow picking up my bible or really devoting time to hearing from God or just telling Him about my day can seem like such an effort. But the truth is that I absolutely have time to spare, I just need to use it. The days I do, I feel brighter, happier. I snap less at my brother, I’m more patient with rude customers, and overall I just feel better. So why do I somehow think that watching an hour’s worth of youtube videos is a better use of my time??

We can also become too ‘busy’ to make time for our family and friends, or when we do it’s only when it suits us. We can be too ‘busy’ to do the things we really love-practising our hobbies, or visiting our favourite places.

Most of all we get too busy to really think. I am aware that I am thoughtful and reflective to an excess, which is in itself a bit of a problem sometimes. But I see so many people that just rush around everywhere looking extremely hurried, and I wonder if they ever actually stop and think about things. Do they ever ask themselves if they’re happy?

I’m starting to wander off into rambling territory now, so I’ll just leave on this note- next time you complain about how busy you are, make some time to do the stuff that really matters. Take a bath. Go for coffee. Practise your guitar.

I hope you’re all well, sorry if I’ve seemed rather absent of late!

C.