Scout Badges you can't earn: BUSY
Posted on April 19, 2022 by Christine Dunning, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
BUSY IS NOT A BADGE OF HONOR. Sometimes it feels like everyone I know is in competition. Who is the busiest?
How does this serve you?
And it shouldn’t be something that you strive to achieve, either.
BEING BUSY
I just wrote my to-do list for today. This is some of it:
Prep eBay packages and drop at post office
bank
grocery store, then food prep lunches
clean kitchen
write a blog post
Outline at least three future blog posts
Social media blasts: FB, IG, Pinterest
clean up my LinkedIn profile
laundry
I’m skimming the surface, but you get the gist.
Immediately I see that there’s no way I’ll get it all done.
This is pretty normal for me. I’m busy.
BUSY IS NOT A BADGE OF HONOR
Sometimes it feels like everyone I know is in competition.
Who is the busiest?
Our lives are chock full, even during a pandemic. Work, work out, meals prepped, served and cleaned up, household chores, take care of our partners, kids, family members. Get hair cuts, errands run, call you mom, make a dentist appointment, find out why your phone isn’t working right.
No matter how much I get done on my to-do list, there’s always more.
A lot more.
IS BEING BUSY A GOOD THING?
A lot of people find self-worth in being busy.
I’ll be honest — this is something I struggle with.
“Look how important I am. I must be important — because I am so busy.”
Philosopher Lin Yutang said it well in his book The Importance of Living.
“Those who are wise won’t be busy, and those who are too busy can’t be wise.”
Rest is as important as action.
Greg McKeown states in his book Essentialism,
“What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance? What if instead we celebrated how much time we had spent listening, pondering, meditating, and enjoying time with the most important people in our lives?”
Our brains need time to rest, contemplate and dream.
Life is not a competition or a race.
On your deathbed, are you really going to think “Ah ha! I finally got everything checked off my to-do list!"
Is busyness a badge of honor?
Are you a martyr to your busyness?
Do you regularly take evenings off, vacations, down time?
Is your life busy, or is it out-of-control?
Check out this article and others on my website: twocatscoaching.com
