{"id":7705,"date":"2014-06-11T10:50:12","date_gmt":"2014-06-11T08:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/responsive.jozikids.co.za\/zaparents\/?p=7705"},"modified":"2022-06-22T09:38:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T07:38:35","slug":"the-business-of-busyness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/parenting\/moms-mothers-single-mothers-being-a-mom\/the-business-of-busyness\/","title":{"rendered":"The Business of Busyness"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/b> <\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/i>I recently wrote an article for Elle<\/i> magazine*, on busyness. That, in itself, is ironic. I\u2019m the queen of not taking my own advice. Since starting this post, I\u2019ve thought:<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder if anyone liked my last Facebook pic. Better check, because there could be something urgent I need to know about. Nope? Okay, Twitter\u2026\u201d Where I watch videos posted by everyone I know, check every link with the potential to interest me and then head to Pinterest, in case there\u2019s something earth-shattering there. By the time I\u2019m done, an hour has passed and I\u2019ve achieved nothing. But I know what \u2018baby mugging\u2019 is.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the social media paradox?<\/h2>\n

Because the internet shares the same space as my actual work, the temptation to time-waste gets stronger every day. And I delude myself that my time-wasting is still work.<\/p>\n

For me, online time-wasting feels \u2018work-ish\u2019 largely because social media is the most readily available way for me to procrastinate. My brain knows it should be focused elsewhere, but it craves something less pressured. Something lighter. As a break. And then I delude myself about how long I actually spend doing \u2018nothing much\u2019 online.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople estimate their [social media use] as being much lower than it is, because it\u2019s designed to feel like five minutes,\u201d says Michael Heppell, success coach. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t go on otherwise.\u201d In fact, the average time a South African spends on Facebook is 12.5 hours per month, with 23% of users logging in at least five times per day.<\/p>\n

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www.theartof.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Headless chicken\u2019? Not<\/i> a good look<\/h2>\n

Many of us get huge personal satisfaction from moaning about how busy we are. It\u2019s a competitive world, and busyness can drive self-worth in a host of ways.<\/p>\n

Alexandra Franzen, US communication expert, says, \u201cIf you\u2019re \u2018successful\u2019 \u2014 by the conventional standards of wealth, visibility and impact \u2013 you must be bleary-eyed and delirious with busyness. How else could you, y\u2019know, achieve anything?\u201d In short, we often try to justify chronic busyness as a measure of our dedication and effectiveness.<\/p>\n

According to Sophie Licht, Joburg business coach, we adopt the \u201clanguaging\u201d of busyness to make us feel important. Especially when we use social media. If everyone around us\u00a0is ‘swamped’, what does it mean for our success if we don\u2019t look as busy?<\/p>\n

We pretend that we\u2019re multi-tasking<\/h2>\n

\u201cI believe [being busy] is connected to a feeling of being in\u00a0control,\u201d says Grace Harding, Ocean Basket\u2019s people and company leader. \u201cLife can be overwhelming so we answer stuff and respond quickly so work doesn\u2019t pile up. This\u00a0causes more stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the newest thinking is that multi-tasking \u2013 like watching your kid on the jungle gym while checking your Twitter timeline \u2013 is a weakness, not a strength. In fact, experts from the University of Michigan say that what we call multi-tasking is actually task-switching. Rather than increasing productivity, attention-time-sharing results in confused, burned out people, with more stress. And whining kids, who feel (justifiably) ignored.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible we\u2019re bad time managers<\/h2>\n

Direct Line, leader in experience-driven branding, says we claim to have just four hours of daily free time (three hours less than the ideal work\/life balance). My response is, \u201cFour hours?!? I\u2019d love<\/i> four hours of free time. Are you joking<\/i>? More like 40 minutes.\u201d My average day is \u201cmanic\u201d as I told the friend I called to cancel tonight\u2019s dinner.<\/p>\n

Another friend, Georgi, who\u2019s a wife, mom and business owner, can find or make time for pretty much anything that\u2019s important to her. Her take is that people who are excessively busy are time-poor: trying to do too much or doing what they\u2019re doing badly. In failing to be time-savvy, they try to optimise for everything \u2013 and optimise nothing.<\/p>\n

But what if we\u2019re actually opting out?<\/h2>\n

Amid all that competitiveness over how little sleep we get and all those unattended spinning classes, it\u2019s possible that we\u2019re using busyness as an excuse to avoid things we don\u2019t value. When we say \u201cI don\u2019t have time\u2026\u201d, maybe what we mean is \u201cThere\u2019s a shortlist of my current priorities and what you\u2019re requesting doesn\u2019t make it\u2026”<\/p>\n

Third Option Men, a society for the development of men, warns that busyness can help us to justify failures: \u201cBusy doesn\u2019t exist. It\u2019s an easy way to explain why we haven\u2019t chased our dreams\u2026 a card we play when we\u2019re afraid to admit we\u2019re our own anchors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophie agrees: \u201cWhen we remove artificial busyness, we\u2019re left with an empty space that is very scary. Now what? No more excuses… We have the room to do what we really \u2018want\u2019 or \u2018need\u2019 to do without the crutch of busyness tying us down.\u201d<\/p>\n

We give the game away online<\/h2>\n

At the same time though \u2013 while we\u2019re not getting to gym after work because we\u2019re \u2018never going to finish\u2019; while we\u2019re too \u2018crazy\u2019 to even consider a spontaneous social arrangement; while we\u2019re \u2018overloaded\u2019, \u2018swamped\u2019, \u2018drowning\u2019 (all adjectives I have used myself this week), we\u2019re still Tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming, Pinning, and commenting on YouTube videos of toddlers dancing to \u2018What Does the Fox Say?\u2019.<\/p>\n

BUSTED. We bitch about busyness, and then allow everyone across all of our social media profiles to watch as we post minute-by-minute commentary about Breaking Bad.<\/i><\/p>\n

Want to better manage busyness?<\/h2>\n

1. \u201cSee \u2018busyness\u2019 as a habit you can break, by practising new ones: daily exercise, leaving your phone at home, not using social media while with your kids.\u201d \u2013 Grace<\/p>\n

2. \u201cKnow what you like to be busy with and what you don’t\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and get the things you don’t like done first. Also, stop blaming others for your busyness.\u00a0If you\u2019re honest with yourself your level of busyness is within your control.\u201d – Sharon<\/p>\n

3. \u201cUse the time you spend talking about being busy to get stuff done.\u201d \u2013 Sophie<\/p>\n

Then, get started on denying the cult of busy. Busy people aren\u2019t more important than everyone else – and disseminating that<\/i> truth starts with you. While you\u2019re at it, forget \u2018work-life balance\u2019. It\u2019s unachievable. Strive instead for \u2018work-life fit\u2019.<\/p>\n

* A version of this article originally appeared in the May 2014 issue of Elle<\/i> magazine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article was originally written for Jozikids by Tiffany Markman in 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

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