We live in a cult of busy. Busy has become a humble brag instead of an indicator of stress. When people ask you how you’ve been, here’s what you should aim to say instead of “I’ve been busy”.
Picture: Matthew G/Flickr
Kory Kogon, author of The 5 Choices: The Path to Extraordinary Productivity, says that flaunting how busy you are makes you seem self-important. It’s also a trick we play on our brains: busy does not equal productive.
If you’re actually too busy, then that’s fine — though you should probably try to scale back your work, if you can. But if you’re feeling productive, then say that instead of “busy”:
But it’s not about busy, it’s about then being able to say to a colleague or somebody, or your family, when they say, “Well how did your day go?” And you go, “You know what? I got those three key things done that’s moving the business forward.”
OK, so that sentence seems a little overly contrived, but there’s nothing wrong with saying “I’m doing well and working on a lot of cool stuff I’m excited about.” It may not sound very different than saying “I’m busy”, but it’s a much better place to be.
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