The Paradox Of Busy-ness

This past month, I bid farewell to a friend who moved to Canada. I caught up with old friends over a weekend getaway. Was sick for the past week. And I volunteered in a massive social event. Think it’s safe to say that it’s been a busy month.

I objectively did a lot this month. More than most months I suppose. But when I think of it, I don’t remember much. I am trying to reflect on these past days and figure out if I learnt something or had any particularly memorable moments. Sadly, I find nothing.

The thing is that when we are in a state of doing, we tend to leave the state of being. So even though I was performing a number of tasks, engaged in various activities, I wasn’t really present. After doing so much, I couldn’t take anything with me.

That’s the paradox of busy-ness. Being busy makes you believe that you’re getting so much done, but if you don’t find time to ponder upon what just happened, it’s lost. You are left with nothing.

Take any high performing individual for example. Warren Buffet stays free on most of his days. He spends his days reading, thinking and strategizing. This helps him take critical investment decisions that shape his entire business.

I think Elon is famously (or infamously) one of the busiest people on the planet. But even he spends 80% of his time working on a single task — designing cars and rockets. Most people don’t know that his role in Tesla and SpaceX is more of an engineer than a CEO.

Tim Ferris, the author of ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’, teaches people how to get the most output from minimal effort. He primarily helps his readers save time. But unlike other productivity nerds, he actively keeps himself free in that saved time. He does not save time to fill it up with even more tasks, but instead takes up new hobbies or just spends his days doing nothing.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t strive to do more, but the lesson here is that we should always find some time to reflect on what we’re doing. It helps us find more meaning in our work and life. It helps us course correct the projects that we’re ignoring for the sake of smashing urgent tasks.

And even though taking out some time for thinking may feel like wasting it, it actually makes the rest of our working time worthwhile.

I hope you’re making some time to actually be present and think about what’s happening. What have you been up to lately?

Good night,
Aachman