Good Stuff from Rene: Volume 4 – Seconds Pass Slowly and Years Go Flying By

For the better part of 2017, I have been unable to determine the date on any given day. The days and weeks have blurred into each other – I often feel like I’m on a roller coaster, sometimes holding on for dear life.

Ben Folds Five wrote a song (Jackson Cannery) in 1995 (?!), and one of the lyrics was, “seconds pass slowly and years go flying by.” Oh, how true that is.

I’m busy.

I know you are, too.

But why? Why am I so busy? Or why do I feel so busy? I remember a simpler time, a time when I didn’t feel this way. What’s different now? What has changed? What am I doing?

(Just a warning before we get into it, this article is a little long and the links I’ve included are even longer. Are you too busy to read it?)

One reason I’m busy is that I’m trying to invest in myself. I spend extra time now learning and taking classes, reading and writing, and other daily, weekly and monthly activities that are important to me (like writing this newsletter).

Another is, of course, kids. (Well, in my case, kid.) Every parent feels the burn. Kids are a lot of responsibility. (And doesn’t it seem like they always need something?)

But I think I’ve also fallen prey to being busy for other reasons.

Maybe I think it’s cool.

When did busy become cool?

In the past, not having to work was supposed to be the reward for having “made it.” But now, status comes from being so busy. Leisure and consumption are out and production is in. You yourself are a scarce resource and when you’re really busy, it shows how valuable you are.

Along those same lines, maybe I’m actually boasting.

Being busy can sometimes be a boast disguised as a complaint. Notice that people who are working three jobs don’t say that – those people are exhausted. It’s self-inflicted busy, reassurance that our lives aren’t empty or silly or trivial or meaningless. (The way the author spends his days, though, sounds heavenly to me.)

But maybe I’m afraid of having time to think.

Because we’re all so “crazy busy,” “super busy” or “insanely busy,” we have no time to think.

When we’re not busy, we tend to dwell on what’s wrong in our lives. So by constantly staying busy, we don’t have to deal with our problems. Some people would rather give themselves electric shocks than have time alone to think.

Having some down-time, though, allows us to be more empathetic and creative. Meditation can help you detach from your thoughts so that you’re more able to let them come and go. (Headspace has a great, quick video to describe this concept.)

You can also use third-person pronouns instead of first-person pronouns when thinking about troubling events. You’re more likely to be kind to a friend, so tricking your brain into thinking you’re talking to a friend may help you with your problems.

But really, am I as busy as I say I am? (Or what exactly am I busy doing?)

The Sketch Guy (Carl Richards) asked, “where does the time go?”

He thinks you should honestly measure your time and how you spend it, then compare that to how you want to spend it. You might find some opportunities to redirect.

I’m going to try some of the suggestions from his article. I’ll report back with my findings in a future newsletter, and we’ll see just how busy I really am. I’m envisioning some awesome charts!

(But, back to the song – the next lines are “You gotta stop the bus, I’ll get off here.” The song is about “moments in one’s life where quitting appears to be the only option.” You can quit anything, at any point in your life. Stay tuned for my next newsletter on quitting.)

Thanks for reading!

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P.P.S. New here? Catch up on my past newsletters.