Category: Busy

What Makes You Come Undone?

Imagine this: your life is busy, but under control. Something happens, though, and everything spirals until you’ve come undone. One event, one that you could have otherwise handled easily, makes everything fall apart. What causes that?

For the most part, human beings are pretty adaptable. As long as the change is not too sudden, we can absorb remarkable changes in our environment.

Take the news, for instance. As recently as a few decades ago, we got our news from newspapers once a day, and a half hour of national news and an additional half hour for local news on TV. That was it!

Now, there are multiple 24-hour news stations, and tuning in to one provides an incredible amount of information all at once. An on-screen anchor is delivering an opinion, or conducting an interview. Chyrons appear regularly to recap what is being discussed. A ticker of other headlines runs across the bottom of the screen. There might also be weather alerts, sports scores, stock market updates, or additional information flashing somewhere on the screen.

It’s a lot to take in, but we do it fairly easily. Our focus can’t be everywhere all at once, but we figure out what is most important to us, and jump around as necessary.

However adaptable we are, there are limits. We can be overwhelmed, with our ability to switch from topic to topic swamped with information. And once we reach that saturation limit, it feels like everything comes undone and we can’t do anything. All but the most simple tasks escape us.

Are there triggers of this type for you? Sometimes it is just a matter of one random thing being one too many. But there might also be a recognizable action that causes you to struggle. Can you think of what yours might be?

Related questions: What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Is our attention fractured? Are we too busy? How do you find peace when you need it?

 

What Does It Mean To Be Productive?

In our society, a lot of emphasis is placed on being productive.

For example, in the economy, there are metrics for how productive the average worker is. In our private lives as well, people who feel overwhelmed with all they have to do may wonder, “How can I get more done?”

There have been many technological efforts to solve this problem. Labor-saving devices, like the dishwasher or vacuum cleaner, have been introduced as a method of doing in minutes what previously had taken hours.

Perhaps more than any other invention, the computer increased productivity. As computers have gotten faster and smaller, we can do more with them than ever before.

There is a question of how much labor these devices are actually saving, though. Despite using dozens, or even hundreds, of these, we feel busier than ever. They haven’t saved labor, really, but allowed more labor, of various kinds, to get done. They have allowed us to be more efficient.

Is that productivity, then? Being more efficient with our time and other resources?

Being the most efficient, however, is not always the best way to get the most done. Some people, for example, meditate regularly. Benefits to meditation vary from person to person, but often it allows calm, ordered thoughts. Which in turn allows for greater concentration, which can lead to getting more done. Sitting and being completely unproductive can lead to greater productivity later on.

Creativity is similar — letting your mind wander can help you to see things in a new way. But “letting your mind wander” is not obviously productive.

So what, exactly, is productivity? And can we increase it without exhausting our nervous system?

Related questions: How can we be more productive? Are we too busy? What do you think about when your mind is not preoccupied?

What Do You Spend Too Little Time Doing?

Some things don’t get the time or attention they deserve. What are some examples from your life of things you spend too little time on?

Share why if you wish.

Are You Politically Active?

Government, either local or national, can play a significant role in your life. Do you take part in that political process? Are you politically active?

In the United States, there is currently a hotly-contested presidential race, and in many countries all around the world there are several high-profile elections taking place.

Even beyond that, there are almost always local elections happening wherever you happen to be. These can influence issues from setting school policies to trash pickup schedules.

At what level are you involved in this process?

One way to be involved is simply to vote. Depending on your community, there are are possibly a couple of times a year you can show up to vote in local, state, or federal elections.

Beyond that, you can be informed when you vote. Knowing something about the candidates shows a certain level of civic engagement. Are there debates to watch and/or attend? Are there voting records available? Do you talk to other potential voters to get their opinions?

The more engaged person may even join a campaign or try to influence the outcome of a particular election. That might include making phone calls, knocking on doors, putting up lawn signs, or donating money. If you believe in a particular cause or candidate, that might be for you.

Or you could even run for office yourself, or otherwise work for the government. There are hundreds of thousands of people serving in various roles like serving on town committees or doing research or working at a school. There are many ways to be involved, regardless of experience or skill set.

Or, of course, you might not be engaged in any way at all. Each of these kinds of involvement takes some level of time or effort. It can be difficult, if you have a busy life, to find time in your schedule to participate.

How politically active are you?

Related questions: Do you have a plan to vote? What role should government play in our lives? What are our responsibilities to others?

Is Faster Better?

Sometimes it seems that life moves very fast, and you need to move very fast just to keep up with it. But have you ever stopped to wonder: is faster better?

Looking at the issue in simple terms, it seems the answer is yes, faster is better. After all, the limiting factor in our lives is time. Even the longest living among us has a finite — and relatively short — amount of time to be alive. So if we move faster, we do more.

However, quantity is not the same as quality. Doing more is not the same as doing things well.

It is possible that doing one thing very well is more meaningful, more impactful, and more rewarding than doing several things less well.

Productivity is such a powerful notion, though. Productivity has steadily increased over the last several decades. This may have to do with us working harder. In addition, we have more tools than ever before to help us to be productive.

Companies like productive workers. Productive parents can do more for their children. You can be a better friend or family member through productivity. Or at least, that is the message from a society built around productivity.

That may be true for drudge work. If a machine helps you to wash dishes faster, for example, that leaves you with more time for other, more pleasant, activities.

But what about non-drudge work? Is it better to write faster? Read faster? Talk faster? Play faster? Are there some activities where doing things more slowly is better (however you define better)? Or is it the case that for everything we do in life, faster is better?

Related questions: How can we be more productive? Are we too busy? Fast or slow? What is the value of inefficiency?