Stop Glorifying Being Busy — Kim Bielak

I always find it interesting that no matter what advances we make in technology, productivity, and even standards of living, we somehow only use them to find a way to work more, rather than less. Our companies have become more competitive and often create a culture of fire drills, staying late, and answering emails at night and over the weekend. Even our “leisure time” has become productive — whether it be a side hustle, something we can post on Instagram, or meditating 20 minutes twice a day because we’re told it makes us better. ⁠

The thing is, even though we complain about being busy, unconsciously we’re often actually wearing it as a status symbol as we do (and I’ll be the first to admit I frequently fall into this trap, too). It’s a vicious cycle — your boss or colleagues are too busy, so you have to be too busy to validate you’re working hard enough. Your friends are too busy, so you have to be too busy to validate you’re important enough to be too busy, too.⁠

What if instead we stopped and decided to be the people that set the example that working 40 hours and not answering emails at night is “enough.” Leaving early to go to that spin class, taking vacation and taking maternity leave should be celebrated, not something to feel guilty about.⁠

What if we glorified being healthy, happy and having enough, as much as we glorify being busy and constantly wanting more as we do today?⁠

Kim is a Life and Career Coach and Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee in LA. To learn more, visit kimbielak.com.

Originally published at https://kimbielak.com on April 1, 2020.