Please stop and slow down you busy bees

This archived article was written by: Leland Lobato

Do you find yourself too busy to manage your life without putting your schedule in writing? “I’m so busy, I’ve had such a busy day, I’ve got so much going on. I lead a busy life.” Are you too busy to eat healthy? Too busy to read. Busy, busy, buys, everybody’s busy.
The preceding was a miniscule amount of similar phrases that came up on various results of a Google search of the phrase: being too busy. I would put money on the likelihood of someone on campus uttering a similar phrase within the last couple of days, or even the last couple of hours.
If you are one of the people reading this and you said something along the lines of being busy within that time frame, you owe me $5. I am usually in the newspaper room so you can just come and pay me there. I also came across a few other terms related to the whole busy theme such as “time-poor, work-life balance and juggling.”
The whole reason for my topic of being busy to an almost ludicrous degree is the fact that it is the middle of October. For the confused, please allow me to elaborate.
I was thinking just the other day, and for those of you who know me, yes I do actually think once in a while, and it seemed like it was the beginning of September just last week. How could this be? How could I, or anyone, just miss a whole month and x amount of days? At first I was angry and felt like I was robbed.
I wanted there to be an office somewhere that I could go and file a complaint. If only there was a form I could fill out, and in a week or so, a guy in a truck would come by my house with a package containing the lost time and perhaps some cookies for my inconvenience.
Sadly, such is not the case. I sat down for a bit and thought about it and realized that I did not blank out a month and time did not just magically disappear or shift me forward a month or so. I do not have a universal remote control like in the movie “Click.” That would be really cool, by the way. No, the simple truth is that I am a busy individual. I am busier this semester than I have been during the entirety of my time at CEU thus far. In the words of my friend Ben Waldon, sad face.
I am not alone in this particular predicament. As I wander about campus and observe people, I sometimes catch a few random bits and pieces of conversation and the majority of it deals with what people had to do next.
I see people all around me, both on and off campus, so often with looks of worry about whether or not they are going to be able to fulfill their commitment to “A” without inconveniencing “B” in any way. And let’s not even think about C, D, E, or F. Not yet anyways.
Many of the people that I know around campus carry not only a full-class schedule, 15-plus credit hours, but also have other commitments. Not to mention, some of the students have children, jobs, and/or families. In some cases all of the above. Often, I have noticed this leaves these people physically and mentally drained. Just as often they seem to be sad, even though they may not be, only tired.
Random thought: Who in the world came up with the term “not to mention … .”? If you weren’t going to mention something, then just don’t say anything in the first place. Saying “not to mention … ” before mentioning something just makes you seem like a liar, or otherwise fraudulent.
The whole world seems to be following this “busy as hell” mentality, while good for many companies and other such organizations, is putting major wear and tear on the general populace. Not that I have studied the phenomenon to and extensive degree, but the fact that in my research I came upon a whole lingo or slang terms for the subject I have chosen to write about leads me to this conclusion.
How many times has someone you know been told that your friend(s) could not come and hang out because of this or that? How many times have you been the one telling your friends that you could not come and hang out? I have had to.
Even kids seem to be getting in on the act. One of the websites I came across was one where kids between the ages of 9 and 13 were worried and stressed out that they don’t have enough time.
Many of those that end up with too much on their plate, so to speak, do so hoping to accomplish good things. Many others end up this way because they just can’t say no. Be that because they feel like they are pressured or have an obligation for whatever reason or just because they don’t know how to do anything else.
Perhaps it is simply because the person asking was just to sweet to turn down. Who knows, but for whatever reason, somewhere along the way, most Americans seem to have forgotten the art of relaxation.
Whatever happened to just going for a walk? Not to go somewhere but just to be outside enjoying life? I used to do things like that, as I’m sure many others used to. Somewhere along the way, I seem to have sold out. Not that there is anything wrong with being busy and taking the time to help people, but everybody needs some time for themselves.
This is how crazy people are made. This person gives too much of their time to so many different places that they just SNAP one day and now all of a sudden they are crazy. It does not help matters out much when many of the people and/or organizations act like they are the only ones that a person may be devoting time to, or that they are more important than anything else a person may be committed to.
Also there are a great number of people trying to take advantage of this precarious situation involving not enough time. In my search, I noticed a great many ideas and programs for helping the “time poor” among the population of our great nation, for a small fee, of course. What horrible blood suckers. It’s like that movie “The Ringer” where they try to fix Special Olympics. Taking advantage of those who either don’t know any better or who cannot do anything about it.
All I can say for the busy is to stay strong. My heart is with you. Also if possible try to do at least one less thing: make time for the little things that make life and all this work worthwhile. Here is advice that I found on the busy kids website www.kidshealth.org/kid/talk/kidssay/poll_busy.html
1. Take a look at how you spend your time now.
2. Think of ways you could rearrange stuff or cut out some things to have more time for others.
3. Talk to your mom and dad about your free time and your schedule, especially if you feel way too busy to do so.