Excerpts from a post by Michael Lopp @ Rands in Repose titled “Busy is an Addiction. The Dubious Value of Being Busy:
After decades of following this protocol, I’m certain of what I’m doing – I’m building mental momentum. I’m convincing my brain through a constant firehose of content of one thing: We are going to be super busy today – it’s going to be awesome. How about a hit of the good stuff? Now, I can rationalize this morning preparation as gathering context and mentally preparing for the day but what I’m really doing is overclocking my brain. This is why I’m drinking coffee. I want to make sure by the time I hit the office, I’m working at 112%, I’m walking fast in the hallways of the office with a smile on my face, I am ready to fully crush this day. What I am really describing is a chemical addiction to the endorphins produced by my body that are supposed to reward productivity, but I have figured out how to force their creation via my advanced state of busy…
Admit it, if you’ve been a leader for while, it’s a source of pride that you’re booked all day – you’re important – you’re so… busy.
What I am describing is how I’ve lived years of my life. I’ve replaced the concrete act of building with a vast array of abstract tasks and acts that I believe are strategically important to the team, the product, and the company, but I’ve also learned to constantly question the motivation being the busy: Am I doing this because it’s actually important? Or because I like the rush with being busy?
Don’t miss the entire post @ “Busy is an Addiction”
Image Source: RAF
Live & Learn 
“Busy” is a word I’ve banned from my vocabulary. Everyone is, no one wants to hear that I am, and phones all go straight to voicemail so it really has no use.
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You operate at a higher level! Well done.
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this used to be my life, for years. and i understand it. but like any addiction, you always need more. and it needs you, and then you are lost to it.
now, i want the opposite and i live that way as much as possible. we can choose to be busy and we can choose not to be busy, and i prefer the latter. and it doesn’t make us any less relevant to the world, in fact, if anything, we become even more so, for we become truly present. the phenomenon is – when less busy, my life is actually much fuller. and richer. i am enjoying it so much more. i can feel it again, instead of rushing on through, like a runaway train, and missing all the stops.
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Shinto, keep leading us to the light. Drag us along.
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hey, we all do what we can, in our own time and in our own way. it’a an ongoing process
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It certainly is!
On Thu, Jun 19, 2014 at 8:21 PM, Live & Learn wrote:
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I wake up, grab my pad and check out your new posts. Then I can get on with the rest of my busy day.
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Awwwww, now I’m inspired. Thank you!
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After coffee, of course.
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Laughing. Of Course.
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Homerun. And it’s an addiction that’s very hard to leave behind. Possible, but not easy.
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🙂 Yes, Helen. I’m on the treadmill. It’s me. Now. All the time. Everyday.
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I had a hunch in that direction. Some of us are made like that. It’s all inside and changing/balancing requires internal effort. Changing the gym doesn’t help.Take care David.
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After 45 years of work I am practicing the art of loafing. It’s not easy.
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You aren’t alone Auntie. We’re on the same Bus.
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Wow. This has to be one of the Circles of Hell.
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It is. It is.
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It’s interesting how deeply ingrained this propensity to “be busy” becomes–even if we can afford to take a break. To wit: I had a so-so work load today–I’m ahead of the curve on my current projects with wiggle room to spare. It was a GORGEOUS day here, and every cell in my body yearned to be outside, just SITTING and soaking up the sun and the birdsong. And yet…..I told myself “It’s a weekday, you should be sitting in front of the computer doing…SOMETHING! Mind you, I work for myself, so no boss is going to be strolling through the workspace for a random “productivity check,” but nevertheless, the gremlins whispered LABOR! And we laugh at the gerbils on the wheel…
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I’m reading your comment Lori and saying, me, me, me too…Thanks for sharing. I feel less alone.
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