August 20, 2012

Life it too short to be busy

I’ve just read this excellent article on the New York Times (online), called The Busy Trap. In essence, it says that life is short, we all like to say that we’re busy to feel important, but at the end we might be victims of the busy trap. I don’t necessarily agree on everything, but I found the article fascinating, and stimulating.

I’m lucky. My job, despite being intense and sometimes very demanding, gives me a lot of rewards, not just in terms of money, but in a more general sense. I am busy, yes, but not in a sick way. For example, today I woke up early, did some push-ups, had a shower, checked my email, then breakfast with my Wife, then to work. After two intense and productive hours, I took a look at my twitter stream, found the blog of Engineer without a cause, and started reading. I spent prehaps twenty minutes reading about Jeff Hull, who recently moved from Boston to Rwanda, de facto following much of the principles outlined in The Busy Trap article. And then, of course, Jeff mentioned the article itself, and I decided to go and read it. After reading it, I decided to write about it, and share my ideas with my blog readers. Is this work? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s a fantastic way to feel creative, feel free, and enjoy the day. Now it’s time to get back to strictly work-related things, but this half an hour of I-am-doing-what-I-want feels amazing. And I realize that some people might not have this luxury. As said, I am lucky.

What do you think? Want to share your experience?