Are You Really As Busy As You Say You Are?

When asked how you are, do you launch into explaining how crazy busy or overwhelmed you are? Do you proudly tick off reasons you don’t have a minute to catch your breath and relax? It may be time to stop and ask yourself if your busyness is based on a real need? Or the need to signal to others that you’re an important person, with important things to do?

According to researchers at Harvard and Columbia Universities, social status based on how busy you are appears to be culturally driven, and perhaps, generationally driven. They looked at US and Italian studies and found that busyness at work is associated with high status for Americans. While in Italy, the opposite is true. Their love of a leisurely life continues to represent high status.

Do you really need to be as busy as you are? What’s driving it? A real, practical need or your status-seeking ego? The real question: is your busyness taking you where you want to go?