time spent offline

Busyness is a badge of honour in a capitalist society that constantly nudges us to be productivity machines.

The result is “the burdensome, expectation-freighted nature of free time.” Every moment in the day is expected to be filled with endless tasks, no matter how meaningless, just so we can justify our value to the economy. Busyness, with never-ending responsibilities and tasks to be accomplished, has been turned into a badge of honour to signals to others how important we are. For most of us, however, our busyness is a facade. Not much of the time we spend frantically moving from one task to another is actually spent on productive and/or fulfilling activities. Most of our busyness is busyness for busyness sake. To compete in the Busyness Olympics, sporting events include, who got the least sleep last night, who have had the most amount of coffee today (and it’s only 11:05 AM *gasp*), and who had a busier weekend filled with activities one couldn’t possibly fit within a 48-hour period. If we take a step back, however, it becomes painfully obvious to see how devoid of genuine usefulness or meaning most of the activities we engage in are. How do I feel so busy, so anxious and stressed all the time yet do not have anything truly meaningful to show for it?

The solution?

Here’s what I’ve been working on over the years:

• Opt-out.
• Re-design your lifestyle.
• Brag about the 7-9 hours of sleep you get each night.
• Go for a walk.
• Nurture your hobby(ies).
• Kill your phone.
• Boast about all the books you have been reading in your free time.
• And, as Jordan Peterson reminds us, “always postpone meetings with time-wasting morons.”

Fill your days with silence, contemplation, and boredom.