Money and Finance
Link to article: The Cult of Busy
Related book: The Chaos Imperative: How Chance and Disruption Increase Innovation, Effectiveness, and Success
[H/T Daniel]
- Seneca Quote
“The condition of all men who are busy with other things is wretched, but most wretched is that of men who busy themselves energetically in pursuits that are not even their own, who sleep to suit another's sleeping pattern, who walk to suit another's...
- Weekly Roundup - June 21, 2014
As usual it was a busy, busy week with work. There were lots of issues which led to us having to change out tools a bunch of times this past week and to top it off I picked up a bit of a head cold on Tuesday and been fighting it ever since. Is it...
- Weekly Roundup - March 8, 2014
What a busy last week. Finished one job, had an awesome time at home with my wife, friends, and family, but all good things must come to an end and it was time to head back to work. A bummer, I know, but the wonderful thing is that while I was off...
- Weekly Roundup - February 22, 2014
What a busy week, although that's the norm right? But I'm striving to really slow down that busy-ness level, especially since it's not devoted to doing things I really want to pursue. Don't get me wrong, I actually like my job, but...
- Weekly Roundup - January 12, 2014
The first full week of 2014 has now flown by and it sure was a busy one for me. We finished drilling another well and I was able to head home early Thursday morning. I finally got home around 4 am and promptly crashed in bed with my wife for an hour...
Money and Finance
The Cult of Busy - by Dina Kaplan
Link to article: The Cult of Busy
Busy can become a way of life. We’re seduced by all the incoming – the emails and text messages that make us feel wanted and important — stimulating our dopamine, as research shows, but in an exhausting, ultimately empty way. Busy has a dangerous allure. If your normal is busy, it’s tough to sit quietly with your thoughts or to really feel what you’re feeling. What if, instead, everything became a choice – how we spend time, who we respond to and how much or little we write? What if we recognized the difference between accomplishing our goals for the day and responding to other people’s requests? What if we learned to say no – a lot?
For many of us, our ego soars when people make demands on our time. What if we could free ourselves from needing, or even wanting, this validation? What if, instead, we carved out the time and space to be productive however it best serves us? That may be consciously keeping ourselves not busy. We equate busy with productive but, as Ori Brafman writes in The Chaos Imperative, many great discoveries — from Einstein’s theory of relativity to Donkey Kong — were invented by people who built white space into their day.
Imagine asking “How are you?” to one of the most successful people you know or, say, Elon Musk, Sheryl Sandberg or Warren Buffett. I’ve never heard anyone at that level respond, “busy.” By most people’s definition they are, constantly making high-level strategic decisions with a large impact.
What are they doing differently?
Two things. One, they aim to project an image that things are under control. Two, they actually have things under control. They’ve hired excellent staff, implemented thoughtful processes and spend time only on tasks that require their attention. Is that not something to strive for?...................
Related book: The Chaos Imperative: How Chance and Disruption Increase Innovation, Effectiveness, and Success
[H/T Daniel]
- Seneca Quote
“The condition of all men who are busy with other things is wretched, but most wretched is that of men who busy themselves energetically in pursuits that are not even their own, who sleep to suit another's sleeping pattern, who walk to suit another's...
- Weekly Roundup - June 21, 2014
As usual it was a busy, busy week with work. There were lots of issues which led to us having to change out tools a bunch of times this past week and to top it off I picked up a bit of a head cold on Tuesday and been fighting it ever since. Is it...
- Weekly Roundup - March 8, 2014
What a busy last week. Finished one job, had an awesome time at home with my wife, friends, and family, but all good things must come to an end and it was time to head back to work. A bummer, I know, but the wonderful thing is that while I was off...
- Weekly Roundup - February 22, 2014
What a busy week, although that's the norm right? But I'm striving to really slow down that busy-ness level, especially since it's not devoted to doing things I really want to pursue. Don't get me wrong, I actually like my job, but...
- Weekly Roundup - January 12, 2014
The first full week of 2014 has now flown by and it sure was a busy one for me. We finished drilling another well and I was able to head home early Thursday morning. I finally got home around 4 am and promptly crashed in bed with my wife for an hour...