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Like navigating the L train, its a badge of honor to be inundated with somethinganythingthat qualifies as busyness.
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That cultural orientation arises from a belief that what you accomplish is a signal of your value."
The more accomplished you are, the more that you are valued as a person, Markman notes.
And it seems that everyone I know is busy being accomplished these days.
Markman says that we have, in fact, passed the busyness obsession on to our children.
Activities are great, but unstructured play is also an important part of growing up.
I would often complain to my mother of boredom.
(Im certain that I never once had a play date outside of my own siblings.)
Of course, she never indulged my grievances.
Plus, I had plenty to keep me occupied.
Id yell inside of my head; I had to get to my JOB!
Who has the time, and God forbid it make us happy?
This explains the work->stress->unhappiness spiral that I had created by living in a bustling city.
And so,my husband and I moved.
Sadly, I forgot how to not be busy.
I did things simply to fill my time, because having free time meant something was wrong, right?
And I wasnt becoming any more accomplished through my forced busyness.
So I asked Markman how to embrace my free time.
His advice: Stop using social media and other online distractions as time fillers.
Check your email a few times a day rather than several times an hour.
In addition, engage with other social media channels occasionally rather than constantly.
Or pouring a glass of wine and getting cozy on the couch.
We can all benefit from taking a few minutes to reflect on why were so busy.
Sometimes, work and other obligations are tough to control.
But if you find youre making yourself busy for the sake of being busy, its time to stop.
Put down your phone, and bask in the glory that is free time.
Do nothing with it, or fill it with something that fulfills you.
And to be incredibly thankful that Im not navigating the L train.
