The Art Of Not Being Busy.

“Busy is a drug that a lot of people are addicted to” ~ Rob Bell

See if you can relate to any of these sayings;

•  “I’m so very busy”
• “I’m crazy busy”
• “Today is a busy day”
• “My life is just busy.” 

Sound familiar? 

Busy is a word that gets thrown around a lot and it is used for various reasons. Sometimes we are trying to deflect a project we just don’t want to do. Or a request for something that really doesn’t fit into our lives. Or it’s just a way of saying “Hey I’m important because I’m so freakin busy!”

The word busy can become a crutch, a catch all phrase that allows us to throw up a road block when we either don’t want to deal with something or our ego needs a little extra fuel.

I’m here to confess that I’m as guilty as anyone for using this word and it has served its purpose well. Recently though I got called out on the use of the busy word in a blog post from one of the bloggers I follow, Courtney Carver, and it made me rethink how and why I use this busy word.

I started to notice that sometimes it was an automatic response and before I knew it the word busy was out of my mouth. Then when I did catch it I had to think about the “truth” behind that busy word and face the real reason I was throwing it out there for someone else to catch.

Busy also showed me that I was using it for things that I should do instead of things I wanted or could do. For instance, I should be busy cleaning the house when what I really want to do is read a book or ride my horse.

After looking at the reasons I use the word busy, this quote about “Busy is a drug” really made me understand how it can be used as an escape or can keep you away from the things that you truly want to do in your life.

So let’s find some ways to help you be less busy and give space to the things that you truly want to do:

• There is a great saying about how you will be remembered in your lifetime and it’s not for how busy you were or how clean your house was but how well you lived your life and the way you treated others. Keep this little tidbit in mind when busy comes knocking.
• Become very aware of how you are using the word busy, are you trying to deflect something you really don’t want to do? If so, try another way of saying it like, “Right now that just doesn’t fit into my life but I appreciate the offer.“
• See if your busy is all about what you should do as in “I should be doing this but I really want to do that.” Ask yourself how important that should really is.
• Start organizing your time better. Take only one thing each day off your busy list and do it, spending all of your energy on that one item. Or don’t even have a list at all and when you start your day just say to yourself that this is the one thing I want to accomplish today. (the bonus here is when you dedicate yourself to one thing you will be surprised at what you really get done)
• Know your limitations! You don’t have to save the world in a day or a week and the word “No” is a positive word for you to start using more often.
• Make sure you always have time for YOU because when we do, do, do for everyone else and we leave ourselves out of the equation, the word busy becomes a very big part of our vocabulary. Give into some “me time” and what you give out to others will be an equal energy exchange.

Try a few of these suggestions and see if the word busy starts to leave your life a little more often. I would love to hear your comments over on the Zen Chick FB page, so come on over and tell us your thoughts on the use of the word busy.

photo credit: Fran Simó via photopin cc