PERSONAL SPECIAL ....Un-busy yourself

Un-busy yourself

Busyness is a sign of what neuroscientists call “cognitive overload”.This state impairs our ability to think, plan, organise, and innovate. Here’s a manifesto of how to untangle yourself from this mess

Are you addicted to your busyness? Do you keep telling and texting people, “I’m busy, later?” Now the real question. Are you really that busy? Or, has busy-ness become a status symbol – a sign that you are in demand and thus important? Well, unbusy yourself, say experts. To go against this tide of so-called busyness, here’s an un-busy manifesto…

DON’T GLORIFY BUSYNESS

You might have too much to do but busyness is not mandatory on a daily basis; it’s is a sign of what neuroscientists call “cognitive overload”. This state impairs our ability to think creatively, to plan, organise and innovate. Says psychologist Dr Nisha Khanna, “When we feel or say we are busy, mentally, we feel like we’re winning in life – like we’re doing something right and maximising our productivity.” In short, busyness is a self-seeking goal. And it’s making us shallow beings.

Begin cultivating tiny moments of space in your busy day. Successful people have learned that being busy is a waste of time.

ANTI-BUSYNESS RITUALS

If there’s a mismatch between things you’d like to do, or feel you ought to do, this gap might be sapping your energy. The pressure to do more keeps you stressed out. Cultivate spaces in your daily routine. Invest in solitude. Find opportunities for breaks at work, in between projects. Adds Khanna, “These small breaks will help you feel in control of your routine.”

ILLUSIONARY MUST-DOS YOU MUST AVOID

Experts talk about practising ‘strategic incompetence’. Author Laura Vanderkam’s in her book, Off the Clock, explains what it means. She says we can eliminate many of our daily tasks without fear. The lesson is that most of your mustdo activities aren’t actually must-dos. They simply keep us mentally and physically entangled. Vanderkam talks about challenging your ‘stories’ about how you should spend your time. Says Vanderkam, “Putting away family members’ laundered clothes neatly in their drawers isn’t something you absolutely need to do.” Says Samita Singh, architect, “There are certain jobs I deliberately do slowly in the kitchen so that nobody asks me to cook.”

STOP BUSY-BRAGGING

Last but not the least, stop moaning about your busyness. Think again. American essayist and cartoonist Tim Kreider says moaning about how busy you are is “pretty obviously a boast disguised as a complaint”. Boasting busyness makes you feel busier because we believe the things we tell ourselves. Jonathan Fields, author of Unbusy: A Manifesto talks about unbusy as our awareness wake up call. This shakes you from living in an autopilot mode – reactive and maniacally busy, or pretending to be. Come out of this mode.

Nona.Walia@timesgroup.com

TOI9DEC18