You can guess what “B” stands for, can’t you?
Yup – “B” is for BUSY.
It’s the breath you take right after someone asks, “So, how are you?”
It’s the breath you take right before you reflexively say, “I’m busy!”
I’m listening to Brene Brown’s deeply wonderful book The Power of Vulnerability. In it, she describes shame gremlins – those things that cause us to feel badly about ourselves.
One BIG shame gremlin in our society is the fear of being labeled “lazy.” And somehow, we’ve collectively decided that if we’re not busy, we must be lazy.
Busy or lazy. Pick one. Go ahead.
Last year, I spoke to a business owners networking group. Sometime during my talk about The Top 10 Ways We Sabotage Our Productivity, I made this comment:
“I don’t think we should work all the time. I believe evenings and weekends can be for rest. And I really believe in taking vacation time to recharge.”
Here’s the comment I heard from an older gentleman in the back of the room: “She must be a Democrat.” (And yes, he meant it as an insult.)
I’ll be honest: in that moment, I felt shame. I felt shame for suggesting that we shouldn’t all be busy all the time.
After the meeting, I had to give myself a pep-talk. I wasn’t wrong. I do honestly believe that taking time off is crucial for our well-being. It’s necessary and healthy. I also don’t believe the opposite of busy is lazy. I believe in doing less, well…not more, better. I believe in leaving unstructured time for dreaming, reading, writing, or just sitting and doing NOTHING.
And if that means I’m lazy, well honey, bring me the T-shirt! (I still won’t agree with you, but I’ll wear the T-shirt anyway.)
Make some room,
Angie
P.S. I’m offering in-person, two-hour Make Some Room Rendezvous sessions through the end of the year. They’re suitable for just you and me or a small group or team. The investment is a mere $350.00. In just those two hours, I’ve had clients and teams make major progress on:
- “Why” they are in business
- Which systems would radically change their business for the better
- How to get out of overwhelm using the power of the word “No”
- How to eliminate the “making piles” habit
- Email overwhelm – and I teach how to banish it for good
- How to make more money (but not necessarily work more)