The Big Lie We Tell About Being Too Busy
I’m having a heck of a hectic month. Not only do I have a bunch of new copywriting clients (woohoo!) – I’m also taking the accelerated version of what’s usually a year-long digital marketing course.
Naturally, given my renewed membership into the “Bite Off More Than You Can Chew” Club, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to decline invitations and requests with a polite “I’m too busy.” It’s the truth, after all, right?
Just this week, I claimed to be too busy for a single, hour-long yoga class… and then the very next day said yes to an art class that would eat up 3 hours of every Tuesday for 8 weeks. That’s some pretty messed-up “I’m too busy” math right there. (But hey… collage-making. How fun is that?)
If you really think about it, there’s no such thing as being “too busy.” It’s probably one of the biggest, most prevalent lies in the world – because the truth is, when we really want to do something, we’ll find the time. And if we don’t have the time, we’ll make it.
So why the lie? Some people say that “I’m busy” is a kind of humblebrag, so maybe there’s that… but I think that in many cases, there might be more to it. It might be worth a few minutes of our (apparently not really very limited) time to look into the reasons behind why we actually tell this lie - and what we really mean when we say it.
So here, I made us all a worksheet. :)
Feel free to grab it and fill it out. And you know what? What you find out after the little exercise in honesty just might surprise you…
I’m not even trying to be funny here. The truths above are real and legitimate concerns, in my opinion. Especially that last one. Point is… none of them have ANYTHING to do with being busy.
So DO IT… try the “I’m Busy BS Assessment" - especially if you find that you use the busy excuse a little too often. According to this HuffPo article I read today, it might actually be symptomatic of something else.
For many of us, when we are faced with an opportunity to change something about our lives or improve ourselves in some way, rather than to say, "Okay, I’ll make time,” we experience inner resistance. That inner resistance then surfaces by making a comment like “I don’t have time.” - Jennifer Twardowski
That inner resistance can be caused by a lot of things (fear, a feeling of inadequacy, and so on.) It might be interesting - and important! - to discover what the cause of your own resistance might be. So go for it.
Personally, I’d like to spend some time looking into it because I worry a little about how my perpetual “busy-ness” might be making people feel. Just the other day, a friend jokingly told me “It’s a good thing we’re not dating. You’re always rejecting me.” and while I LOL'ed and shot back that “It’s not you, it’s me.” - it did make me think.
From this point on, If I’m going to say no to something, I’d like to be honest and up front about why, if possible. Because people aren’t dumb. More often than not, they realize that when you say “I don’t have time”, what you’re really saying is “I’m not willing to MAKE the time.” And that can kind of suck, especially if they internally add what they think is an unspoken “…for you.”
Let’s avoid that, if we can.
So yeah… something to think about, for sure. Let’s make some time for that. Cheers! :)
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