5 Ways You Can Combat Busyness

Deep confession – I don’t feel like working today. 
 
I long for the freedom to sleep in, then drink my coffee slowly in the sunshine.  I want to throw off the constriction of schedule, deadlines and having to be accountable to someone else’s needs and expectations.
 
Far from being an indication of laziness, this longing is part of an early warning system, one I have learned to pay attention to because it is happening at the level of my soul.
 
These longings tell me I am getting close to depletion, not energetically but spiritually.  They tell me it’s time to slow down and replenish myself.
 
Inconveniently, this always happens at the busiest times of the year!
 
Busyness has become an epidemic in our society.  Think about it as a drinking game, if every time someone expressed how busy they were you had to take a shot, you’d be loaded by lunchtime. Every day.
 
So, here are my tricks for getting what I need, when I need it, stepping out of the “busyness vortex”.  
 
I call it my Busyness Combat Program:

• Stop work at a specific time each day:  This is the No.1 thing to keep the chaos of busyness from sucking you dry.  While you might be working 7-6 rather than 9-5, having a predictable stopping point that is reasonable and healthy for you during high volume periods is empowering.  It allows you to see a mental finish line every day (no matter where the “To Do” list is at) and, when protected as a healthy boundary, lets you plan to have downtime.  A glass of wine on your deck, a call with a friend.  Predictability helps tame chaos and lets your loved ones support you more often during a busy period: at my house the “supper fairy” magically has it ready on the table but the “supper fairy” only shows when there is schedule predictability.

 

• Love your body:  We need 45mins to an hour of movement a day, continuous if you can.  However, even if you are getting that in, desk-work often means not moving for large chunks of the day, which isn’t good either.  To break up this punishing cycle of non-movement, take a break and go for a short walk, do some chair stretching, even getting up to grab another drink counts as movement.  Don’t have time?  Do this; stand in the great outdoors for just 5 minutes (in the sunshine if you have it).  Movement means you change position.  When you change position, you change your perspective.  When you change your perspective, you can see things from a different angle (metaphorically and literally).  Movement is a HUGE ally in helping you be value-add at work.

 

• Super snack soul food:  I am as guilty as anyone of scarfing down sugary drinks and treats as a way to emotionally connect to myself when I’m under pressure.  Recognize this for the trap that it is (self-abandonment) and set yourself up for success.  Take time to cut up healthy snacks you love and have them easy to grab, you’ll find you really don’t miss the crap.  Cut up watermelon for a hot day, sunflower seeds and raisins as a power snack, homemade iced tea or cardamon coffee (or whatever your favourites are) is an act of self-care that fuels your body nutritionally and meets your emotional needs at the level of your soul.

 

• Necessary notes to yourself:  When you’re busy you’re at higher risk of ignoring your emotional needs.  Journaling always supports emotional health, but during busy periods it feels impossible to take time to do it.  Consider sending yourself quick e-mails (think of them as mini-journal entries) during the day, little notes that express how you are feeling at a given moment, a complaint, an awareness, etc.  Just a sentence or two to acknowledge where you are emotionally in your day (my subject line for these is “necessary notes to myself”).  End each note with some love for yourself as a sign off (and make sure you’re e-mailing it to yourself and not someone else in your contact list before hitting send).  I love seeing these in my personal in-box, while they are a mix of the good and bad in my week, they all say “I love you”.

 

• No Alarm Clock:  According to a 2021 study out of the U.S. about 36% of professionals didn’t consistently use their vacation time before the pandemic; during the pandemic that has risen to 46%.  We tend to think of vacation as a way to leave our current life and experience something new, which is really difficult under a lock-down order.  But that is missing the point of vacation entirely.  It’s about not getting up with your alarm.  It’s about not touching your keyboard for 3 days, or a week or two!  It’s about logging off and staying off. It’s about confronting the boredom you feel, and in the midst of that boredom discovering you can sit and read a whole book on a weekend, or try out hiking trails you’ve never done before, or nap.  If you have no downtime to look forward to, everything, including the weekend, starts to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”.

 
I’m purposefully trying not to express busyness to others in my life because it confirms the “glamour” of being busy, and being busy is not glamourous, it’s a maladaptive coping mechanism (you are using busyness as an unhealthy way to get something you need). Each of us choose how busy we are (yup, it’s a choice, and if it doesn’t feel that way to you, book a call with me today).  
 
Check in and see if you are wearing busyness as a badge of honour; as a way to feel relevant, a way to show others how important you are.  Then ask yourself if you are really feeling relevant at work (or is it the opposite, you’re working hard because you are afraid you are not relevant)? Ask yourself if you are recognized and valued at work (or just working hard hoping busyness will get you the recognition you deserve)?
 
Busyness is the biggest piece of emotional bull-shit we as a society have ever constructed.  
 
It doesn’t ensure your work is value-add, impactful or relevant to your employer. It means you are over-identifying with your work, living to work, not working to live.  And it is a career killer because when you repeatedly say you’re “busy” what you’re really saying to someone else is that they are not important making others feel put down (whether you meant to do that or not).  That kind of reputational mistake is hard to shake at work.
 
So, when your soul rebels and you don’t feel like working, listen to it and give yourself the break you need.  It supports you and all those whose lives you touch.

Feeling depleted at work?  I can help!

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