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Overwhelmed? 10 ways to feel less busy
Strategic Incompetence
At your workplace, if it is accepted by you and declared to your peers that you are not good at doing a certain job or task, you will not be assigned that type of job. This way you can be less busy doing mundane time-consuming work.
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Key Ideas
Chronic busyness
Being chronically busy can become a badge of honor. It makes you feel important.
It can also hurt your health. The long hours, stress and lack of relaxation time can result in insomnia...
Addicted to chronic busyness
- How would you describe your days? Would you call them hectic, chaotic, consumed in activities?
- How does being busy make you feel? Do you enjoy the excitement of going from one activity to another throughout the day?
- Do you take fewer vacation days than you’re given or even skip vacation time altogether (like Tom)?
- What activities do you normally do when you’re not at work? Do you rarely take time to sit, relax and read a book or magazine for fun?
- Are your friends and family weary of hearing how busy you are? Have you ever seen someone roll their eyes when you talk about how busy you are?
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Key Ideas
Busyness is a myth
Although people feel much busier with work these days, the total time people are working – whether paid or otherwise – has not increased in Europe or North America in recent decades.
The illusion of busyness is caused by:
- Economies grow and time is more valuable: Any given hour is worth more, so we experience more pressure to squeeze in more work.
- The type of work we do has changed: We live in an “infinite world" - more incoming emails, meetings, things to read, more ideas to follow up – and digital technology means you can easily crank through them. The result, inevitably, is feeling overwhelmed.
Busyness has become the indicator of status
Though historically, the ultimate symbol of wealth, achievement and social superiority was the freedom not to work. Now we measure our worth not by the results we achieve, but by how much of our time we spend doing things.
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Key Ideas
Recharge yourself physically
- Take a warm bath. Try using Epsom salt in your bath.
- Use an exfoliating scrub to help recharge your body by improving blood circulation.
- Change your diet...
Recharge mentally
- Make a list of your accomplishments
- Let go of past mistakes
- Do something fun
- Take breaks from things and people that bring you down
- Spend time with close friends and family
- Meditate or pray
- Avoid multitasking
- Take a break from technology
- Do something artsy
- Write in a journal
Why people feel drained
Most likely, exhaustion is linked to:
- too much or too little physical activity
- jetlag or something else that confuses your circadian rhythm
- insomnia or lack of sleep
- medications such as antihistamines and cough medicine
- poor eating habits
- stress
- trauma
- drug or alcohol use