A recent BBC article questioned the positive association of being busy and the negative image associated with those who are bored. We fear boredom. It makes us anxious. Boredom is often associated with “idle hands” creating mischief, but is this true?
The article asks us to “look at the importance society places on being busy. The wealthiest among us work longer hours while being busy has become a status symbol and a mark of prestige….. Boredom and idleness, by contrast, are for the underachievers, the lazy, the loafers. It is something associated with mental dullness and lacking in aim or purpose. In a society where happiness and positivity are often linked to productivity, those who are bored must by extension be unhappy.”
Being busy means that we are in constant “go” mode, and this is the “flight, flight and freeze” mode. Eventually we run down, like a battery - and then we get sick: the body is truly depleted, and the immune system has run out of resources. We might get a short illness, like the flu and be laid up in bed. Or we get sick on holiday, when we finally let go our “fight” mode and relax – and then the immune system relaxes a little too much.
Even more serious, if we are in flight and fight response for a prolonged amount of time – with too much cortisol raging around our body - is the likelihood of mental and physical exhaustion. We cannot sleep properly, we get random symptoms of pain or we might find ourselves with thoughts and to do lists in overdrive, and then we become anxious and depressed.
Or the stress might mean we develop pain in various parts of the body. Shoulder pain from “bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders” or feeling that something is a “pain in the neck” can often become uncannily true.
We are becoming addicted to action, and feel guilty for not being busy.
Yet it is a well known fact that best creative ideas arise while the mind is “idle” or day dreaming (in the precious moments in the shower, or on a walk). The above article notes that, some of the world’s most successful business leaders actively plan moments of idleness – both Warren Buffett and Bill Gates famously schedule in time just to sit and think.”
Down time is good for your body and good for your soul.
Next time a friend regales you with how “busy” they are. Don’t feel guilty that you are not as driven as they are… take several deep breaths and go for a walk, or just sit and let your mind wander...oh, and smile... knowing that you have just supported your immune system and refreshed your mind. Who knows you might have just unleashed your creative genius!
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