😞 Why you feel busy all the time

Hello Wakeout friends! Here’s the tl;dr of issue 31:

⌛️ On this issue we discuss why people feel so busy all the time, to the detriment of our health. However, there’s clear evidence that busyness is simply a state of mind. I discuss what’s driving this myth, and how to break the cycle.

🚗 Last week we launched the new Car Wakeouts. It’s been met with a lot of enthusiasm and it’s become my personal favorite Wakeout (I’m even doing it on my desk). Update your Wakeout to get it.

🏆 We’re hard at work on a new leveling up feature and a new, complimentary app for Wakeout. Uuuuu! Got your attention there, didn’t I. Oh, and… it’ll be free! Can’t wait to give you guys more details.

The truth on being so busy—it's a myth

1 in 3 American adults say they’re too busy for things like exercise, play, and leisure. Another 41% of American adults say they spent too much time on the job. However, the truth is that total working hours have declined every year for the past century. To someone from the early 1900s, it would seem to them that we’re actually in permanent vacation.

Time poverty is a state of mind

So why do so many people feel they lack the time to enjoy life a little more? It’s a matter of perception. A state of mind. A mental model. Busyness is part of a social hierarchy of values, where being engaged is valued more than being chill.

Let’s break the curse by correcting our perceived reality and getting our priorities straight. Below are a few reasons that are keeping us in a cycle of time poverty.

😦 Living in permanent FOMO

There are 1,000 new NEW things out every day. The new Netflix show, the new podcast, the new book, the new post, the new viral video you have to watch. An endless cycle of seemingly urgent “news”. Modern life is a river of new stuff where you have to keep swimming upstream or risk getting swept away by the current. The need to be in the know is giving us a sense of urgency that’s kidnapping all our day’s hours.

Break the cycle: turn off notifications for social media. Make a note to only “get in the know” once per week. Then unplug to enjoy life.

💼 Work no longer ends at the office

You’re literally being tracked by satellites and cellular networks all day so that everyone (and every corporation 😱) can reach you at all times. So when you leave the office for the day, it’s only physically. Because work is where your phone and laptop are. And every notification from work gets your “busy” alarms going, and so you never really chill once you’re home or with friends.

Break the cycle: make work stay at work. Log out of your work chat and email when you leave. It serves as both a real and symbolic action that helps you feel you’ve left “busy” behind.

🏅 Being busy is a status symbol

Seeming busy comes with the implicit understanding that our time is in demand. “Hours worked” is more and more seen as something to be proud of. The 100-hour work week is now the staple of the “passionate” entrepreneur or employee who is on the path to solve the world’s problems.

However, evidence suggests that more hours doesn’t mean more productivity. Performance actually declines! Being too busy is detrimental to your sought-after outcomes. So even if putting in more hours is a good look, it’s not worth it!

Here’s something else to think about: cultures outside the US, like in Spain and Italy, actually regard those who have a lot of leisure time as being rich and successful.

Break the cycle: Being busy is as prestigious as you want it to be. Reorder your priorities and start valuing other things as more important, like actually being happy and healthy!

Let's be busy, in a healthy way

😌 Focused work and time blocking.

I’m not arguing that we shouldn’t be busy. However, being engaged all day is seriously detrimental to your health. It’s linked to higher levels of stress, and stress kills, people!

We’re advocates of focused time and time blocking. Working hard for an hour, then taking an active break with a Wakeout. Then hit another good, quality hour of healthy work. Then when the day’s over, (your work “block”), work is truly over. It’s time to completely switch off to bond with family and friends (and dogs!).

That’s why we’re building a new product. Because we need to be busy in a healthy way. And we think we can help with that!

More on this soon.