Busyness is an inevitable part of human living. So much so, that you may even be wondering why there’s a whole podcast and series on The Daily Deck dedicated to busyness. Well, the more I interact with people, I find that a lot of the time they are exhausted and worn down by the end of the week after hustling all the time. They may be all smiles and handshakes, but I wonder if joy is really there in their lives, or whether it has been squashed by the demands of life.
But what happens when busyness sucks the joy out of living? What happens when “I’m too busy” becomes “I haven’t eaten in the past 8 hours”? What happens when ‘annual leave’ is a luxury you cannot afford, when holidays are someone else’s pleasure and you find yourself more enslaved, rather than ‘employed’. What then? How do we find the joy in these prolonged seasons of stress and busyness?
For the first podcast that The Daily Deck has produced, we decided to explore certain areas within this question, so we caught up with Sravanthi Amloo, a Senior Market Research Analyst with a lot of management experience in the corporate world and Jo Hart, fellow Daily Deck staff member, writer, social media guru, teacher, and full-time mom.
So let’s look at the different types of busyness, which will provide a framework for how to tackle these seasons:
Seasonal busyness: This type refers to a limited, defined amount of time where there is an end in sight. For example, this could be your university time, a wedding etc. And although these seasons can be quite intense, there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it all ends.
Escapism busyness: This is when you fill your schedule with things to avoid some of the deeper issues that might be going on in your life. I think we’ve all been guilty of this at some point in our lives. I, myself, used extreme escapism methods very recently, to avoid dealing with immense trauma. The danger with this is, although your life feels good and entertaining, you’re avoiding the real stuff going on and those wounds become your baggage that will keep lugging around with you, wherever you go.
Disorganized busyness: This happens when you’re busy mainly because there’s a lack of time management and procrastination. For example, putting off studying for your exams and then cramming the days before.
Enforced busyness: This can be really tough, because there’s often no escape and you find yourself having to do more than what you signed up for. For example, being forced to work 7 days a week even though your contract said 5 days, or you’re having to take on work that isn’t traditionally part of your job role, even after you’ve voiced your struggles to the management. Some people can’t afford to be without that job and not earning that income, so they are forced to soldier on, because they live and support families on it.
Long-term busyness: This is the type we really want to focus on - because navigating its permanence can be quite detrimental to our sense of joy and wellbeing at times. In this type, there is no end in sight, like in motherhood, where you have to accept that the craziness is going to be your life.
So these are the 5 types which will hopefully provide context to some of the deeper issues that extended busyness causes.
I’ve found that sometimes people become too busy for too long and end up feeling depressed, because they didn’t try to strike that balance and seek time out for themselves, even in small ways. Or in other cases, their busyness is so disorganized because they find it hard to prioritize and let procrastination win every time. The danger with procrastination is they find themselves running on a hamster wheel with a deadline coming up, and then beating themselves up for not doing the work on time in the first place, which in turn leads to a vicious thoughts of self loathing and depressive episodes.
When busy seasons hit, it's easy to fall into the tendency of letting yourself become the last priority. And while you might ignore your needs for a while, eventually you’re probably going to feel the effects of it and it might rear its head in ugly ways. So it's important to recognise your boundaries, say ‘no’, mean it, and stand your ground because your mental health is important. It's not a taboo thing where you should be ashamed of yourself for discussing your mental health.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU’RE OVERDOING IT?
It’s not always easy to pay attention to what your mind and body is telling you, nevertheless obey it. And the issue is, that burnout creeps in very slowly, and over a long period of time. One day you might just find your concentration levels are dropping, your creativity has been blocked and let’s not go into your physical state because that may well be a mess, too.
It’s important to pay attention to the hours you’re spending at work. Whether that’s your day job, or looking after kids, whatever that may be - you are fulfilling a job and looking after someone else’s needs at times. Recognise the hours you are putting in on a day-to-basis and if you’re seeing a pattern where it exceeds 10 hours, then that's a clear sign that you may be overdoing it. And this applies even to those who like the busy chaos at times - they are also at high risk of overdoing it, and suffering the consequences.
So what are some of the dos and don'ts of successfully and efficiently navigating busy seasons?
DOS
Increase your self-awareness: Be alert to yourself and know when you’re overdoing it. It’s important to pay attention to your feelings, are you feeling more stressed out than usual? Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you feeling exhausted or crabby? It’s important to know what your triggers are, so you can respond appropriately.
For our guest speaker Jo Hart, she found that lateness was a huge trigger for her, so when her team was late to submit a project that she had tried to be on time for, she would get a bit anxious, irritated and stressed. So she realized that this triggered her, and adjusted her behavior accordingly,
Ask yourself why you do what you do: Once you establish that, it becomes easier to navigate the busy seasons because your purpose is very clear.
Know where you stand competitively in the market: If busyness is mostly linked with your job, find out where you stand and what you’re worth, in terms of the job descriptions and salary.
This will lead to higher emotional stability because you’re well aware of your worth, and well-informed about the options that are out there for you.
Re-energize during your time off: Find out what energizes you over the breaks, and do just that. Don’t indulge in mindless tasks, do things that will recharge you for the coming week. If people don’t energize you, don’t feel the need to people-please by saying ‘yes’ to plans.
Communicate. Voice your concerns or struggles: It's not always necessary that the person hearing you will receive your complaints or struggles with humility, understanding, or even action, but it's about you being bold and fearless to stand your ground. If you can’t talk to your boss, draft them an email, eloquence is less important than the message being conveyed.
And it’s ok to keep hitting the nail on the head and continuing to state your struggles, continuing to say ‘no’ to tasks being dumped on you etc. You aren’t a machine.
Have a support system: It’s important to surround yourself with people you can vent to and process with, someone who can lovingly tell you if you’re overdoing it. That person should be able to take you away from the place that is the source of your busyness; whether that's the home or the office, and have fun with you.
Maintain your connection with God: If you’re a spiritual person, don’t let the intensity take away from a meaningful relationship and time with God. Let God be the first priority and everything else be secondary. It's only God who can sustain you through this difficult time.
DON'Ts
Don’t be ashamed to speak out on your struggles, because if you crash, everything crashes.
Don’t feel like you have anything to prove and don’t compare. You are exactly who your partner needs, exactly who your boss needs and exactly who your family needs. In trying to achieve, don’t try to be someone else in the process.
Don’t put speed over quality - it isn’t always healthy to berate yourself for being slow. Rather, look constructively at the areas you require improvement and know that you’re doing your absolute best. Its the quality that counts, not the quantity. Take your time if you need to, but do the work properly. Your team will appreciate that more, and so will you, when you see the outcome.
In closing, our advice to you if you’re going through extended seasons of busyness would be:
Resolve why you’re busy. Have your purpose always be crystal clear to you.
Share your burdens with people and don’t get locked away from the outside world, while you’re immersed in getting things done, because that can lead to disconnection from others, loss of relationships, and a sort of self-centeredness because your world becomes about your busyness, not others’ lives as well. Don’t neglect your need for community.
Find someone who can be a sounding board for you. Whether that's a therapist or reaching out to us at The Daily Deck team - just talk to anyone who will listen and be there, and encourage you. Find that and hold on to them in these times.
You are important. You’re incredibly valuable. You are not the last priority. While you work and hustle and care for others, make sure you’re caring for yourself too.
Listen to our podcast, available on YouTube and Spotify for the full deep dive.
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