We burst into laughter when Maam J., my co-teacher got panicked about fixing her eyebrows before going home while we were on the street side waiting for the bus.
"I almost forgot to fix my eyebrow! I don't want to look stressed in front of my husband! Grr. I was so busy the whole day!", she uttered in panic while fixing her brows.
Sorry, I'm busy!
I'm so busy, I need to finish this and that,!
I forgot because I was so busy!
Busy, busy, busy,
These are the phrases we often hear from someone who spends his/her time working limitlessly. We often hear these phrases from someone who has a lot of things on his plate that he could no longer accept and do anything else other than his work.
Image edited from Canva.
Is being busy a metric for success?
I grew up in a setting where busy people are the successful ones. Many of my neighbors lounge around doing nothing most of the day on almost all days of the week, while only few are busy. My busy neighbors go to work, come home at five, and then do something else on the weekend. The former are poorer in economic status and the latter is average and middle average. From my observation, it is obvious as daylight that my busy neighbors are successful in their professional life and they acquire material things for convenient and comfortable living. So my young mind ended up asking a question, "If I learn how to be busy, will I be successful too in the future?"
Why do people love to be busy?
We oftentimes use "I am busy" as an excuse. But some people love the busyness of life. Research about Conspicuous consumption of time: When busyness and lack of leisure time become a status symbol by Bellezza S. and company indicates that an individual's perceived level of busyness may be heavily connected to their self-worth, as well as how others view their status. So being busy makes someone feel in demand, important, better, and capable than others.
This case is evident in my workplace, our Master Teachers(higher rank teachers) are so busy, aside from their teaching loads, a lot of paperwork is filed on their desks, and they always give more than what is asked, maybe they are just inspired to work harder because of course their salary is much bigger compared to other teachers, they even report at school on weekends bringing their family with them!
However, I, noticed, that the more they get busier, the more they become in demand and important -attending seminars here and there, representing our school in some events together with the school principal, and easily getting promotions. So I wonder again, do I need to be very busy to be promoted and become successful?
Image edited from Canva.
Is being busy better?
Because being busy implies a big worth in society and the working environment I am in, I tried to be very busy once, but it gives both negative and positive impacts on my well-being. I work hard, I work limitlessly, I didn't procrastinate, and I embrace work tasks as a challenge and an opportunity for me to show my capabilities and flexibility (packet ba). I said no to travels, dinners, and all other things that are not related to my work. I focus solely on my work and nothing else. Surprisingly I didn't get tired or bored, rather I feel a sense of accomplishment.
But it's true that Too much of everything will kill you, until such time that I became so overwhelmed and frantic. I didn't realize that I was slowly detaching myself from the people around me and even from my loved ones. I become anxious and moody. I got pimples and eye bags, and got skinnier! I wasn't taking care of myself well. There was even a time when I worked so hard but only accomplished so little which lead to my disappointment. Thankfully, I didn't reach the depression stage.
Busy versus Productive
I searched the signs how busy had I gotten and what should I do to solve it. From there I came across the word productive.
We often confuse these two.
Sometimes we think that we are too busy and we need to be very busy to accomplish tasks but the reality is we are overworked and slammed making us less effective.
Being productive is working and accomplishing things smartly using correct time management. We choose what needs to be done. We become selective with our time and energy. Being productive gives us a sense of fulfillment every time we achieve something.
You are only busy if you say so.
I remember before I joined Hive, I said "Oh, I'm busy, I might blog once a week only or once every two weeks for so many reasons". But when I started blogging and exploring Hive, I was surprised that I was able to blog 2-3 times a week.
"I thought I am busy?"
When the School Year/ Classes started I said again, O, I'm busy, I might not blog anymore or I'll be seldom active", but look! Here I am again!**
"I thought I am busy".
And just a month ago, I said, "Oh, I'm super busy, I have my blogging career and my work, and I can not continue my Thesis anymore", but here I am enrolled for my Thesis Seminar!
"I thought I'm busy!".
So I realized that I'm busy. is the phrase we often feed our mind as an excuse to do new things but in reality, we aren't, we just lack time management.
Busy? Or Productive?
But if you feel you are busy, take a rest, and have a break, there's nothing wrong to pause and breathe for awhile
Ways to stop busyness.
Working hard is good but working smart is better. Their e are several ways to stop busyness and be productive instead, they are time management, spending time with loved ones, knowing your priorities, and knowing your limits and capabilities. There is nothing wrong with admitting our limits and weakness. WORK SMART, NOT HARD.
Being busy won't determine our success. Well, it's good to be one. But let us be productive rather than busy. Choose what needs to be done. Work smart, not hard.🥰
That's it Hive! Remind yourself to be productive always.😊