Are You a Victim?
A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to create anything great.
Naval Ravikant
Do you feel guilty when you are not busy?
Do you humble brag about how busy you are?
Do you skip time with family and friends because you have too much to do?
If so, you are a victim of a dangerous hoax.
The hoax is that your value is determined by how busy you are. If you just worked longer and harder, you would be more successful.
But this is a dangerous lie.
Busyness is robbing you of countless opportunities. You never find out about them because you are focused on your expanding to-do list.
Busyness is keeping you from getting to know many fascinating people because you don’t have time for small talk.
Busyness is straining your current relationships. Even when you make time to be with your people, you are not always completely present.
How can you escape the tyranny of busyness?
First, you want to reframe busyness. It is not sign of success. It is a thief.
It is stealing your life from you.
Some of the most important things cannot happen when we are busy.
Once you see busyness as a problem, you can use your schedule to allow time for the important things you have been neglecting.
You need to make time to care for your mental and physical health. This needs to be on your schedule.
You also need to loosen up your schedule.
Life happens in the gaps.
You need more gaps in your schedule.
Don’t stack multiple meetings back-to-back.
Allow time for informal conversations after meetings. These are often more productive than the meetings.
Don’t fill the gaps in your schedule with timewasters.
You may think they are helping you unwind, but they are designed to hijack your brain.
They are just another form of busyness.
Walk whenever you get the opportunity. This gives your brain time to solve problems and come up with great ideas.
Spend time in nature. There is something magical about being in nature.
Connect with the people you meet. Sometimes it is as simple as making eye contact.
Your schedule can be a valuable tool or a ruthless tyrant.
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