Let’s get busy doing nothing

Let’s get busy doing nothing  Are you “too  busy”? It seems we are a culture of people who try to “out-busy” each other.  “Hi Rhonda. How  are you today?”  “Busy.  You know how it is. How about you?”  “Busy busy – it  never stops!” And on the discussion goes.  When I was  growing up, my brother and I attended church and Sunday school. I also attended  Brownies or Girl Guides during the school year and in the summer I played  competitive baseball. My brother played hockey and baseball.  That meant we  were busy two or three days a week. All the other days were spent doing what  kids did in the ’70s and ’80s – hanging out and having fun.  What are kids  doing these days? I know that the adage is to keep them busy all the time so  you know what they’re up to. However, are we creating a society of kids who  don’t know how to relax? Are we teaching busy-making habits to our children and  further reinforcing that being busy all the time is good?  Think about your  plans for tonight. Do you plan on sitting on your back deck with a beverage  trying to see how many bird calls you can recognize? What about watching a  sunset – when was the last time you did that?  We all work  hard. Some of us work too hard. Statistics tell us that about two-thirds of  employees eat lunch at their desk each day. You need to get a break from work  during the day. Even if you are on Facebook, YouTube or DealingWithDifficultPeople.org while you are eating, your brain is still at work. Get away from your desk.  I’m a  non-smoker. Always have been. However, there is a habit that smokers have that  we non-smokers need to learn. To take a break. Your brain needs the break from  being constantly surrounded by work. Even if your conscious mind is not  working, your subconscious mind still is.  The  Blackberry/Palm Pilot may add to the problem. Turn it off. Don’t look at it  when you get home at night. Do something that is relaxing for you, something  that isn’t considered “busy work.”  Here are some  ideas to help you be “less busy” this week:

• Take  a break at lunchtime today, even if you just spend 15 minutes walking around  your building. Six months from now, we will be willing to pay money to get to  the climate we’re all enjoying free right now. Enjoy it. Get outside.
• Tonight,  make a point to get outside and watch the sunset. Walk around your yard, or  your building, and look at the flowers. If they are your flowers, cut some (or  go buy some) and put them in your kitchen or family room. If flowers aren’t  your thing, then look at the fancy cars, the neighbors or the roofs of houses!
• Listen  to the birds, the traffic or the silence. Just stop and listen. How long has it  been since you listened to the sounds of silence?
• Plan  a vacation day. Take one day where you don’t clean the house, work from home,  or do errands. Take a day and go to a museum, or the beach or golf course.
• Go  on a date. It could be a date with the girls (Sex and the City is still showing in the theatres), a date with  your special someone, or hang out with the guys (while the girls are at their  movie, check out Will Smith’s new action adventure, Hancock).
• Stop  at the grocery store and buy dinner to go. A roasted chicken, salad and a nice  glass of wine is a perfectly healthy dinner and inexpensive when you buy them  ready-to-go at a grocery store.

Check out my  February article about balance for  some other ideas, at www.on-the-right-track.com/newsletter.php?id=169.We need to stop out-busying each other. The next time  someone asks you how you are, tell them you’re “perfectly calm, in control and  feeling pretty darned good, thank you.” I can guarantee that they will not want  to out-busy you then!