Most of us are trying to do way too much, way too fast.
So much of our lives are spent frantically jumping from one obligation to the next, just trying to keep all our plates spinning. There’s little (if any) room in this for reflection or enjoyment – it’s all we can do to get our shit done. It consumes the best of our time and attention.
There seems to be some sort of weird societal fetishism for this kind of frenetic busy-ness. A warped “understanding” that always being in motion and constantly trying to do more are somehow implicitly noble things that automatically signal you as worthwhile and make your life better.
Bullshit.
Being THAT busy is a problem. A serious one.
Productivity’s one part of life… not all of it.
People need free time and calm to reflect on themselves and their lives. Time to play back events to see if they come to different (and better) conclusions than they did in the moment. Time to ponder who they are in relation to what’s happened. Time to breathe and actually enjoy the fruits of their labors (or else figure out why they aren’t).
Time to hear themselves think… and feel.
You’re not going to meaningfully grow as a person living life late for the next thing. That’s juggling – light-touching a bunch of things without paying quality attention to any of them. Your focus is always distracted by what’s coming, so it’s never fully in the moment. Quality and presence in the moment are what give life meaning.
Living like this isn’t living. It’s existing.
Your relationships will suffer. You won’t be able to meaningfully evaluate what happens to you. The only thing that’ll get your quality energy is your work – and work without greater context makes you a hamster on a wheel. An indentured servant.
Make good time for reflection. Make sure you live… not just exist.