Resisting the Culture of Busyness

"The busier they are, the more likely they will get tired and cranky with each other. We can have lots of fun when that happens. Keep them busy, and they don't take time to talk to each other. Even better, keep them too busy to listen to each other. We know things are going our way when other people become an interruption to them. Just keep reminding them that their tasks are much more important than people!

“Keep them too busy to plan ahead. The less planning and prioritising they do, the better. We're especially in good shape when they don't have time to evaluate what they're doing. If their work isn't effective, we don't have nearly as much to worry about."


- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (1942)
        

I don’t know about life back in 1942, but C.S. Lewis might well have been satirizing today’s world. The pace of life today is relentless, busyness earns one a badge of honour, and multi-tasking is a marketable skill. Have you noticed how telling one another how busy we are has become part of our standard greeting? The competitive nature of life today means it’s difficult to resist getting caught up in the race to do more, acquire more and be more in our lives. I have to consciously put guilt aside if I tell someone I’m taking it easy today because I don’t want them to think I’m lazy!

But what are we losing in the process? We’re losing time for deeper connection, time to think more deeply about things that matter in our lives, time for growing caring community. These are the things that connect us to our humanity.

It takes courage to resist the competitive culture of busyness, to deliberately schedule downtime in our lives for rest and renewal. This is at the heart of my personal mission today - to help people reconnect with themselves and each other and with the things that bring a sense of joy and wonder to their lives.

I also want to raise the alarm flag about the direction our culture is pushing us. We’ve reached the point today where we’ve lost the natural rhythm between work and rest that is essential to our well-being. We’re seeing the danger signs on many fronts with epidemic rates of anxiety and depression. It’s no wonder that burnout is now recognised by the World Health Organisation as an occupational disease.

I deliberately describe my Circle of Trust events as ‘retreats’, not workshops. A Circle of Trust retreat offers trustworthy space for personal rest, reflection and renewal. It’s a space where we can put aside the pressing urgencies of our daily lives, and allow the big questions we’re holding to surface. It’s a space for creativity and new ideas to emerge.

Taking time out from busy lives is not self-indulgence. It is essential self-care. And in the words of the late Celia Lashie, “It is in the taking care of ourselves we learn the ability to take care of others.”

The Wisdom of Winter: Making time for rest & renewal is the theme of my next Circle of Trust day retreat in Auckland on Saturday, 7 August 2021. You can find all the details here. If you'd like to know more about my Courage & Renewal work, please email me.