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Why you feel busy all the time (when you're actually not)
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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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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Busy Being Busy
We are far too busy in ways not imagined before, though productivity hasn't increased proportionally. Studies show we have more leisure time than before but have become overwhelmed with ...
Accept Defeat
Time and resources are limited but 'everything that is to be done' is always unlimited, so there is bound to be a compromise, a trade-off.
Something will always be neglected or deprioritized, no matter what you do.
Respect your rhythms and body clocks
Humans are not a machine or a piece of equipment, that can be made to work overtime and show more productivity.
We don't work like a machine, and working more hours does not mean more actual work. If we respect our body clock and work with it, we can be more productive.
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Motivation and creative work
Intrinsic motivation is necessary for creative work. We need broad thinking, so we can come up with innovative ideas and see new connections.
Extrinsic motivation narrows our t...
Elements of intrinsic motivation
The 3 elements required for intrinsic motivation:
- Autonomy: it's about choice - when you believe you have a choice, you're more motivated.
- Mastery: it's about wanting to get better at something that matters.
- Purpose: it comes from believing you're working on something that's bigger than yourself.
Knowing our work helps others
When we know that our work will make a difference to someone else, it makes us work harder.
Try to reach out to the people who directly benefit from your work. This could boost your motivation to work hard.
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Our culture of work
Our culture claims that work is unavoidable and natural. The idea that the world can be freed from work, wholly or in part, has been suppressed for as long as capitalism has existed.
Exploring the abolition of work
- In 1885, socialist William Morris proposed that in the factories of the future, employees should work only four hours a day.
- In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that advances in technology would lead to an age of leisure where people might work 15 hours a week.
- Since the early 2010s, these ideas have been developed further, creating a growing critique of work as an ideology, and exploring alternatives to work.
- Post-work offers enormous promises: In a life of much less work, life would be calmer, more equal, more communal, more pleasurable, more thoughtful, more politically engaged, more fulfilled.
Work ideology
The work ideology is not natural nor very old.
- Before the modern era, all cultures thought of work as a means to an end, not an end in itself.
- Once the modern work ethic was established, working patterns started to shift. Between 1800 and 1900, the average working week shrank from 80 hours to 60 hours, and in the 1970s to roughly 40 hours.
- In 1979, Bernard Lefkowitz related in his book that people who had given up their jobs reported feelings of "wholeness." During the same period, because wages were high enough, it became possible for most people to work less.
- During the 80s, work ideology was reimposed by aggressively pro-business governments who were motivated by a desire for social control.
- By the early 21st century, the work culture seems inescapable.
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