Why Busy People Are Happier
'Try to get some rest,' Maria said to me, as
I kissed her goodbye at my front door, last Monday night.
And I have.
Quite honestly, I'm loving not having the
distraction of the office. No disrespect to my team. But, for sure, solo time
has helped me focus and get a bunch of stuff done.
I need to be busy. That's just the way it is.
I'm pretty sure this is true for most of us, at the genetic level. Busyness
equals survival. Lazy cavemen either starved or got eaten.
This is why the
very idea of retirement is weird.
The most common narrative around retirement
is we stop work at a certain point so we can take it easy.
It sounds great, doesn't it?
But, in reality, once you've done nothing for
a couple of months, it's hard to stop the descent into boredom. You need
something to do. Something to keep you busy. Busy travelling...busy
writing...busy restoring old cars...busy painting...busy learning blues
guitar...busy tending the garden...busy doing anything other than watching
endless repeats of Murder, She Wrote.
I discovered my addiction to busyness
when I
started my own copywriting business, in
London, in 2007.
This life appealed to me. Boy, did it.
I'm a lark, rather than an owl. So this was
my plan: I figured I'd write for two to four hours in the morning, then mooch
off to Gunnersbury Park and bury my nose in some trashy sci-fi novel for a bit,
or pretend to work-out.
Then I'd go and meet Maria at the pub near
her office for a sharpener at 6pm...then go home to noodle around on my guitar
for an hour or two, perfecting my Clapton faces.
Only...it
didn't quite work out like that
My 6:30 morning alarm was like a leash to a
spaniel pup.
I sat to attention at my desk, with
cornflakes still stuck in my beard, and tore through a morning of work without
looking up once.
Then...instead of chucking it all in at noon
for some quality box-set time, I leapt into the next project...and the next...
And the next...
And the next...
I've never been busier, before or since. But
it was all encouraged, all self-inflicted. I loved every minute of it.
I've since figured: getting through
work wasn't freeing me up to be idle. It was freeing me up to do more work.
And it
wasn't *just* about the money either.
That was the gravy on the cherry on the icing on the cake. I craved the
busyness. I felt like I was on fire.
But here's the really cool part: far from
feeling as if things were getting away from me, I felt like I was mastering my
time...
And, as you know, that's the key to it all.
Are
busy people genuinely happier?
Nobody wants to feel passive...like life is
happening to you. Okay, maybe you want that for two weeks at a time when you're
on holiday. But, generally, you want to feel like you're running the show.
So, here's a strange contention for ye: busy
people are the true masters of time - and therefore happiest of all.
Let me explain...
When you're busy, you know how much you've
got on your plate (it's full, but bring it on). You know how long things take.
You know what you can fit in and what you can't. You can be honest with people
who ask for your time, instead of messing them about.
You do more, faster.
When something's put in front of you, if
you're a busy person, you do it.
When you have time to kill, it's easy to put
things off because you can do it...tomorrow.
When you're busy, you don't have time to
entertain worry...or to be negative.
When deadlines come at you like freeway
bridges, you can't help but focus on only the important tasks, rather than the
peripheral nonsense most people prioritise.
That means you achieve more. And that gives
you confidence. It also gives you the sense of purpose you miss when you
retire.
(You also get a reputation for being
superhuman - which, naturally, I cultivate...)
Life is truly lived out at the edges. When
you're super busy, you feel like you're permanently out there. Workaholics crave
that feeling. It's euphoric.
You don't have to go to these extremes. And
look, I'm not saying this kind of 'busyness' can - or should - be sustained for
any great length of time.
But I'm saying you shouldn't fear it. If you
truly want to be happy, wealthy and fulfilled, take being busy over being idle,
every day of the week.
PS: In the words of Thoreau, 'It is not
enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are you busy about?'
Be busy to fulfil your passions and dreams... Be busy to enhance your happiness
and wealth. Wealth
Builders Clubis a great source of many ideas pertaining to
extra income, self-development, retirement planning, and lessons that will help
you get closer to the wealth you always wanted.
By
Simon Munton
COMMON SENSE LIVING
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