Why I stopped being busy

Why I stopped being busyWhy I stopped being busyDo you know that feeling of being so busy that time flies with a blink of an eye? Were so busy with all kinds of things- work, friends, going out, holidays, etc. But being busy is not a good thing at all.Especially becausewe waste most of our time on nonsense. We say were busy but in reality, we just fill up our lives with crap.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraWe binge-watch tv shows for days, we go to networking events with weirdoes who try to sell you their services, we spend hours finding new clothes to buy so we can impress people we dont even like.Were busy with bullshit. But until a few years ago, I never got it. When people asked me, how are you, my answer was, busy.Whats wrong with us? Why are we so busy with things that dont matter?We even use our busyness as an excuse for important things. Thats sad. After I realized that I wasnt in control of my life, I decided to stop being busy.Being busy is an excuse that losers use. I say that because you can use busy as an excuse for everything.You forgot your anniversary.Yeah, but you know how busy I am, right? Ill make it up to you.You havent called your mother in six months.Mom, Im sooo busy.You didnt go to the gym.Im too busy to work out.And the WORSTIm too busy to work on the stuff that makes me happy. That can be your music, business, model trains, or whatever.Ive used all those excuses. But at some point, I told myself this How on earth can you be too busy to give someone thats important to you a call? Thats nonsense.Every time you say youre busy, youre actually saying that you cant prioritize your life.Most people identify being busy with being successful. But unlike 95% of the people I know, I dont think being busy means youre successful.When you meet people, they often want to show you that they have busy lives. A full calendar must mean that Im doing SOMETHING right,right?The truth is If youre busy, you dont live at all. You just exist.Derek Sivers, author ofAnything You Want, and one of my favorite thinkers, saysTo me, busy implies that the person is out of control of their life.But if Im not busy, what the hell should I do?Slow down there. Take a step back. And think about which things in your life are just busy work and not meaningful.Seneca put it bestA good man will not waste himself upon mean and discreditable work or be busy merely for the sake of being busy.Heres how I put that in practice.Its absolutely fine if you DONT have plans for the weekend. Peoples favorite question on Monday is What did you do over the weekend?You dont have to do things so you can tell others about it. If people ask me, this is what I say NOTHING.Or, I say I wrote, went to the gym, and had dinner with family.And they look at me like Thats all?What?Im not cool if I didnt travel the world, had dinner with aboriginals, and jumped out of a jumbo je t on the way back?Another thing I say NO a lot.Want to grab coffee all day? Want to write an article for money? Want to work for us? Want to do this, or that?No, not now- I dont want to be busy.When youre busy, time moves fast. And I want time to move SLOW. Thats why I only say yes to things that matter to me.You know that feeling? Some days seem like forever, and years later, you still remember how you felt that day. You should feel like that almost every day.All you have to do is slow down, stop being busy, dont forget about important things, and live a conscious life.Its not that difficult, right? You can start now.This article originally appeared on Darius Foroux.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from nesthkchen Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people