Chronic Busyness
Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash
There's acute busyness, and there is chronic busyness. They're as self-explanatory as they sound:
- Acute Busyness - A temporary, influx of tasks and activities that keeps someone occupied for a brief period. It may affect other normal obligations for a short while, but eventually subsides as their schedule returns to equilibrium.
- Chronic Busyness - A permanent state of always being busy. This person never has any time, and their schedule almost always leaves them overcommitted and overwhelmed.
If you meet someone that fits the characteristics of chronic busyness, you should be cautious and understand this dynamic. Keep in mind that busy ≠ productive.
What's The Issue?
From Psychology Today:
Chronic busyness is a way many people distract themselves from uncomfortable, unpleasant, and painful emotions. The busyness, the action, the constant movement, and the over-commitment actually protect the person from being aware of their emotions. When chronically busy like this, Person B can suppress painful feelings about loss. It's a defense against the pain.
The "chronic" piece of this is usually caused by poor time management, overcommitment, or inability to set boundaries. This leads to a set of unhealthy behaviors, especially if you need to engage with this person for any reason. They could include:
- Complaining about how busy they are without taking any steps to address the problem. This will result in them continuing to be busy.
- Using busyness as a status symbol or badge of honor, which is counter-productive to actually accomplishing anything. If the goal is to be busy and being busy is tied to your identity, this person will always find a way to make things more complicated than they need to be. Have you ever heard someone gloating about how full their inbox is? Relevant quote from Upton Sinclair:
It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it. - Upton Sinclair
- Ignoring self-care and neglecting personal relationships due to excessive workloads. There is a certain unhealthy martyrdom that this is wrapped up around this that warrants attention. It generally goes something like "I have so many important things to do that I am sacrificing myself and the people I care about for the greater good". In reality, spending time on yourself, on your support structure, and on those that care about you puts you in a position to be more successful (and gives you more time) to tackle what really matters.
All of these points leads to varying degrees of stress, burnout, compromised health, anxiety, reduced happiness, strained relationships, and overall diminished productivity in the long run.
If This Is Someone You Know
Consider who this person is to you, and what type of relationship you want/need to have with them. In a professional setting, they could limit your progress or prevent project success. In a personal setting, you may have trouble deepening (or maintaining) your relationship. Understand that until the underlying elements of their chronic busyness are addressed, engagement with them will always be challenging. You may be able to fit in some time or make some headway temporarily, but don't be surprised when your plans are cancelled, calls rescheduled, or deadlines extended.
If This Is You
Be introspective, and be honest. Consider the signs of chronic busyness in yourself. Read up on time-management strategies. Set boundaries, learn to say no, and learn to delegate (and be okay with delegating). Embrace self-care, including (and especially) seeking support from friends, family, and professionals if necessary.
Final Thoughts
Tempus fugit - time flies. It's a universal truth that you make time for things that are important to you. Consider how you spend yours.
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