If you look deeply it's surprising how much of that list is self inflicted.
How? What can you realistically avoid? (edit: or rather, what do you mean?)
kids :)
Why are Adults so busy?
11–20 of 485 posts
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#12When I look at my 4 yr old son, what really strikes me is the way he lives in the moment. He does not care about the future one single bit. He does what he wants to do (or has to do) and that is his entire world at that moment. No worries, no planning, no "I have to save some energy because I still have to do X in 2 hours and then Y, and when am I finally going to finish Z?" He just goes until he drops. When he comes home from a camping trip, which seemed quite intensive, activity packed, he runs into the garden and starts to jump on the trampoline. The he cries because he doesn't want to go to bed but is asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow... Until he jumps out again to play with his cars. There is only now.
I feel the answer is in there. Live more in the now and experience the calmness, even though you may be just as busy as ever. Busyness is just a label you put on your activities yourself. I'm sure my son does not understand being busy and if he would he would label it as a positive feeling. Busyness is a feeling caused by thinking of all the things you still have to do. Some people feel it when they have to do shopping and cook on 1 day, some people seem to never feel it even though they shop, cook, visit friends, work and do sports on 1 day. It's very subjective and there are techniques (mindfulness?) to feel it less than you do now.
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#13The article doesn't really answer the question. It says adults are busy because they have too much stuff to do (duh..) But "why" is still a good question, and it remains unanswered.
The answer is that, as we grow up, we tend to develop the belief that our well-being needs to be justified somehow. In other words, we start to believe that we are not by default worthy of living a good, joyful, care-free, abundant life.. unless it is "deserved". And the way to justify, or "earn" our well-being, we are told, is by action. By doing things. So we become obsessed with doing things, as a way of seeking approval and justifying our well-being.
Of course, as any child knows... this is ridiculous. Action is not a means to an end. Action itself is one of the ways to enjoy life.
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#14Most of tasks are exaggerated or poorly managed. I do all the mentioned stuff, get a good night sleep (7-8 h), plus studying for master's degree and still have time for my hobbies and friends. Time management is a critical skill to learn while being adult.
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#15A lot of my time is 'wasted' by recovering from work. I have a nice physically easy programming job. But it's quite a lot of hours, and there is travel on top of that. But when I get home I need to spend at least an hour basically going 'ughhhhh' and just doing nothing much. It's necessary, but eats so much time.
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#16Missed security. You could argue it falls under the responsibility sections, but protecting your possessions without your presence is definitely extra effort.
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#17Interesting to contrast this with articles that paint the various delivery/cooking/cleaning/task runner services as a kind of mom-in-a-box that real adults shouldn't need. Maybe being a real adult is an unwise investment of time if you can afford to do without it.
There's a reasonable middle ground (that will differ by person). I spend very little time on bills--direct payment in most cases. I have a housecleaner who comes every few weeks to keep things at least vaguely under control. I have a lawn service. I use Amazon Prime which eliminates lots of little errands. That said, I don't go crazy with all the Internet task services, most of which seem like more trouble than they're worth and most aren't even available where I live.
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#18I'm wondering why, with all the technological progress, we don't have 8 hour work-weeks just yet :)
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#19The article doesn't really answer the question. It says adults are busy because they have too much stuff to do (duh..) But "why" is still a good question, and it remains unanswered. The answer is that, as we grow up, we tend to develop the belief that our well-being needs to be justified somehow. In other words, we start to believe that we are not by default worthy of living a good, joyful, care-free, abundant life..…
I see it more as people wanting to experience everything they can. Plus, modern life adds on many demands.
Re: Why are Adults so busy?
#20When I look at my 4 yr old son, what really strikes me is the way he lives in the moment. He does not care about the future one single bit. He does what he wants to do (or has to do) and that is his entire world at that moment. No worries, no planning, no "I have to save some energy because I still have to do X in 2 hours and then Y, and when am I finally going to finish Z?" He just goes until he drops. When he comes…
To be fair, it's a lot easier to live in the moment when the planning is someone else's responsibility, i.e. Your son can live in the moment because you're the one buying the food, paying the bills
:-)