Things That Keep You Busy While Accomplishing Nothing

Ever felt like you didn’t have time to do the things you wanted? Like get around to starting that new business, or get that skill cerification, or finally visit your parents? Yet when you take the time to write down all you have accomplished, you come up with a blank.

It’s not very uncommon. You’ve kept busy doing nothing.

Being busy has always been nothing but an excuse for me. Like when someone invites me to a party and I don’t want to go, I tell them I’m busy. When people ask me why I haven’t been going to the gym as much as before, I tell them I’m busy even though I’m really just sick of going to the gym and will probably stop for a few months.

I’m dumbfounded everytime I see people talking about how busy they are. I’m sure many of them really are busy but I can’t help but think how easily avoidable I’ve always found busyness to be.

From what I’ve seen, there are two ways that people are actually busy:

1. Physically busy like they’re driving somewhere or running errands or playing

2. Mentally busy like examining a problem, thinking things through or worrying about something

Both types can be productive, depending on how they are used. In the same breath, they can also both be huge wastes of time and resources. I like outlining busyness as a quadrant divided into four areas where any activity that adds to your busy lifestyle can fall into: Physical-Productive, Physical-Wasteful, Mental-Productive and Mental-Wasteful.

Unfortunately, many people spend much of their busy time engaging in activities that fall into the Wasteful area. And because of this, they accomplish nothing or very little, despite spending an inordinate amount of time on them.

I have a list of my personal activities that fall into each of the above. When I catch myself doing any of the wasteful stuff, I hold back and see how to either: do things differently to make them productive or stop doing it and focus on something new.

Here’s a sample list for each of the above classifications.  Surely, you’ll have your own.  Edit the list and put in yours.

Physical-Productive

• working out
• working on my internet projects with a clear goal in mind
• learning new skills
• going someplace or doing something for the first time (always stimulates the imagination)

Physical-Wasteful

• playing videogames
• talking about making money with people who aren’t making money
• idly tweaking my websites or marketing campaigns
• spending more than 1 hour at the mall

Mental-Productive

• learning new ideas from books and audio programs
• meditation
• planning with a clear goal in mind
• thinking about ways to enjoy my activities more

Mental-Wasteful

• entertainment television, radio, magazines
• entertaining doubts - they never run out
• talking and thinking about negative outcomes
• thinking and gossiping about other people

The wasteful stuff will keep you busy - sometimes for days on end  - but lead you nowhere that you’d care to be two months down the line.  They add no value to your present moment and, in fact, diminishes it.  Most of the stuff that keep people busy simply add no value to their lives.  Why would you spend your precious seconds that way?

Technorati Tags: busy, add value