It occurred to me earlier that I haven’t blogged for a while. Initially, I felt guilty and then I justified my position to myself by saying that I’ve been ‘too busy’ lately but is this really an excuse for one whose sign off says ‘ usually busy blogging’? And the answer must be ‘no’!
Isn’t it a horrible phrase, ‘too busy’? My instant reaction is a mental image of people, rather than bees, and usually self-important people at that. They’re rushing around, jaws clenched, too busy to stop, too busy to smile, too busy to care. It’s such an emotive word that, when I had my own business, I used to drum it into assistants that they should never say ‘ she’s busy’ in answer to a call. That, I would tell them, implied that I was too busy for the caller, which isn’t a good impression. 'Lie to them instead', I would say, 'and tell them that I’m on the other line or in a meeting'. (Well, we all have to compromise on our ethics in business once in a while, don’t we…..?!)
We all use 'too busy' as an excuse from time to time and, if we don’t, we’re either saints or we’re told to get a life by the people around us. But being too busy all the time really is not a good thing. The parent who is too busy to play with their child, the husband who is too busy to listen to his wife, the boss who is too busy to take notice of the workers’ good ideas, the writer who is too busy to write…..
So, how do fit everything into our lives but avoid being too busy? Well, we compromise and we learn to say the ‘N’ word, hard though it is for many of us. We also ensure that we have balance in our life and, by that, I mean that we treat all three aspects of ourselves equally well. To avoid burning out through 'too busy' we need to look after our body; we should try and get as much sleep as we need – and that varies from person to person; don’t believe the eight hours a night business! We should eat a balanced, healthy diet and drink plenty of water (but I don’t need to tell you that, do I?) We should exercise our brains instead of watching mindless TV – but at least the election debates are over now – and we should make time for our spirit. Apparently 20 minutes’ meditation a day is as beneficial as a couple of hours' sleep. It certainly works for me. Whatever it is that you do to relax, just try to take yourself out of the minutiae of your life and look at the bigger picture; stare at the sky or the leaves on the trees and concentrate on doing that, rather than on the problems in your life. Then, when you come back to earth, write a manageable ‘to do’ list and, most importantly, prioritise it, ensuring that it’s not all work. Add in the time for your child, partner, friend, colleague - and, of course, for yourself.
And, if being busy works for you, then great. It does for a lot of people and I’m probably one of them. The crucial word is ‘too’ because that means a lack of balance, which is not a good thing. As W. H. Davies said ‘What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’ Substitute ‘care’ for ‘being too busy’ and you get my point.
