When the ‘Too Busy’ Excuse Doesn’t Work Anymore

We like to believe that we are ultimately free to live our lives in whatever ways we want, having definitive veto power of our schedules, activities and uses of time. Although truthfully, our hectic daily lives are often scheduled by other people, commitments, companies, families and friends. 

During the last six months, many of us have been left to our own devices more than ever before when it comes to setting our own schedules, and it’s been a bit of a social experiment. To some the expression ‘busy schedule’ may secretly mean that you have a hot date with Netflix most nights – according to the New York Times, amid the COVID-19 panic in late March, use of websites including Facebook.com increased by 27%, Netflix.com by 16%, and YouTube.com by 15.3%. 

It’s certainly true that schedules haven’t gone away, and for some they’ve become even more challenging, with upended child care routines and irregular work arrangements. But overwhelmingly­­–– conferences, annual events, family reunions, cruises, weddings, vacations and festivals, have been cancelled. Leaving us with holes in our plans.  

Sometimes our busy lifestyles can actually (strategically) cover up the things that we’re candidly just not that interested in doing. We may find ourselves saying things like…

“I’d love to volunteer more, but just can’t fit it in my schedule… I’d really like to work out more, but I’m too busy… I order take out every night because I can’t find the time to cook…” 

Remember back to college when you had to study for a final so you cleaned your whole apartment instead, looking for the lesser of evils on your ‘to-do’ list? The concept is the same. With openings in our typical schedules, we’re faced with a moment of truth. Have we really not had time for specific things or have we just been avoiding them?  

Having an honesty-hour with yourself doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Are there areas that you would like to invest more time in? Should you officially cross some commitments off the list instead of using excuses to get out of them? 

The balance of 2020 could be the perfect time to take stock of your schedule and decide where your time may be most wisely spent.  Who knows, by actually doing some of the things you procrastinate about, you could end up with new interests that could change your life.