Three things the words "I'm busy" might say about you.

That other "B" word.

Think of the last time time you asked someone how they were doing. What was his or her response? How often does that other person tell you he or she is "busy"?

Busy just might be the most subjective word in the English language. What's funny is that research shows we are happier when we have more going on in our lives. So what disconnects happen in the mad rush of life that make us feel otherwise? 

Well, here are 3 things that the words "I'm busy" could be saying about you:

1. It tells you what you value:

At the end of the day, what we busy ourselves with is completely our choice. If I value my child's clogging dance class, why should I complain that I need to drive her there? Why are we so inconvenienced if we're doing the things we deem important?
Do we value our friendships, family and health? Somehow, most of us find time to scroll social media and watch TV. But maybe we forget to call our mom, or choose not to. Because we're busy, we say. But the flip side? Our social connections improve our health and happiness. So why do we sometimes avoid them in the midst of our own excuses?

2. You are likely more stressed.

As soon as those words "I'm busy" cross your lips, you speak them into truth and you believe them. Busy is more of a belief than a feeling, right? You feel happy, sad and hungry. Do you feel busy in the same way you feel angry? Or are you just overwhelmed?

3. It could mean you have poor time management skills.

The other day I read a study about how the average person wastes 2 hours each day. Considering I overslept an hour and waited another hour before getting my morning rituals in that day, and on the day before got completely sidetracked on some internet time suck articles, I immediately agreed.

When we glorify the word "busy", we might not be stopping to evaluate the steps needed to improve our work flow, to reduce input time. In short, to stop with the "busywork".

Maybe we're just too exhausted because we're not valuing the right things (like sleep, health & relationships) or doing things in the right order to save ourself some time.

The unfortunate byproduct of poor time management is also impatience. Example: Think about waiting for your child after an activity that gets out late. I will own right now that I'm an impatient person. But instead of being frustrated by this, we can plan for it. Take a book, kill two birds with one stone and never say "I don't have time to read" again. Somehow, maximize this time instead of letting negative emotion take over.  

When you're hustling, perhaps the best question(s) to ask yourself is: "What am I working toward?" and "How is what I'm doing actually moving me there?"

These are DIFFICULT things to stop and think about. But as we know, sometimes we have to feel a little uncomfortable to peel back some of those walls we put up and improve ourselves.

Here's a couple tips if reading this made you feel like, "Man, I should really stop saying I'm busy!"

1. Just be honest about your feelings.

When someone asks how you are, it's okay to say "Today is overwhelming, but tomorrow is a new day". And SMILE. That action will instantly make you feel better.
It doesn't have to be an invitation to a 5 minute conversation about how your life sucks right now. It's just authentic. 

2. Engage more in how you FEEL at the beginning and end of the day. Assess the stress. If those feelings are awful, then make some changes. Nothing is going to improve if you don't make some tweaks! #sorrynotsorry Change comes with challenge.  #beenthere.

Increasing our mindfulness increases our wellbeing.

This isn't a soapbox post. It's merely a reflection of the things I found about myself and steps I've made to change. If you found it at all inspiring, I love hearing from you: 
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