Why we’re all busy with the busyness epidemic

“How have you been?”

“Busy”

Sounds familiar? It seems that over the past couple of years, for many people “busy” has become almost the default reply to questions on how they’ve been. Sometimes it’s even true! But going by the most commonly used metrics of busyness, it seems we are actually less busy than at any time in the past century. We work fewer hours on average, and due to technological advancements in household appliances we have to spend far less time on domestic upkeep than we used to. So if we’re actually spending less time on our primary obligations, why are we then claiming to be “busy” all the time? There are several factors at work here.

Busier than thou

Being busy generally implies that you have less leisure time (i.e. non-working time) available. In the past, it used to be the case that leisure time was largely only attainable by the upper class. Leisure time could actually be used as a display of social status and material wealth, as only those that were well off had the time to spend on pursuing ‘frivolous’ and non-productive activities. According to the economist Thorstein Veblen, the pursuit of leisure time actually led to the creation of the so-called “leisure class“, those that deferred their social status from being exempt from working.

“In many societies busyness has become a desirable quality.”

Over time however, our perceptions on leisure time have seemingly changed, and what used to be a source of admiration has now almost become grounds for contempt. Arguably driven by the increasing prevalence of capitalist ideologies, many societies have started to deem being ‘busy’ as somewhat of a badge of honor. In many societies busyness has become a desirable quality, as it has come to convey an image of being popular, successful or important. Being busy signals to others that you have an engrossing life, and comes with implications of having a demanding job, broad social network, or a wide range of interests. Busyness is at times even used to legitimize people’s lives, as some derive their measure of worth from how tightly packed their calendar is.

Busy doing nothing

We are however rarely in a position to directly observe how busy someone actually is. We therefore rely on more indirect indicators of the busyness of someone, such as the vocal cue of being “busy”. But since there is societal value attached to being busy, people are actually incentivized to exhibit symptoms of being busy, regardless of their actual busyness. For some, this is nothing more than the superficial default reply of “busy”, without providing any further explanations.

But society also encourages more drastic false signaling of busyness. For example, some have taken up the habit of delaying the sending of their emails until after working hours (which can be done either manually or pre-programmed), to give the impression they are working longer hours. Sending emails outside of the normal working period signals commitment or hard work, and is done to fabricate a more favorable impression. It’s telling that it’s far more common for people to send their after-hours emails to their superiors than to their subordinates. In a sense, giving the impressions of busyness is not really all that different from other forms of managing how we are perceived by others, such as the carefully curated image people often portray on social media.

The signaling of busyness can at times be even more overt, such as in various Asian workplace cultures. Japan for example, has the somewhat common business practice that, in order to demonstrate hard work and commitment to the company, employees are not expected to leave the office until their boss does. This practice is common enough that in almost a quarter of Japanese companies, employees are required to work 80 or more overtime hours a month. On top of that, using paid leave is rare and frowned upon, causing many to feel guilty about taking days off. Societal expectations dictate that employees are busy with their job, regardless of whether there is actually any work to be done.

“The Japanese even have a word for it – Karoshi, death by overworking.”

Employees in these cultures are very aware of this, and as a result their actual motivation to work hard often suffers for it. Ironically this means that by having employees work longer hours than necessary, their overall productivity actually decreases. Not only that, but the prolonged hours spent in the office takes time away from their family and leisure activities. This can have a detrimental effect on a persons’ happiness, in some cases so extreme that it leads to severe depression or even suicide. The Japanese even have their own word for it – Karoshi, death by overworking. Unfortunately it’s not surprising that among developed countries, Japan (as well as South Korea, which has similar business practices) ranks among those with the highest suicide rates.

Addicted to the busyness

While society does encourage people to fake their busyness, some people actually are just incredibly busy. At times this is out of necessity, when making long hours in order to make ends meet. But for many others being busy can be an addictive state of being that is at times difficult to quit. For these people, busyness often acts as a form of escapism, as staying occupied prevents them from having stop and think. Busyness provides the perfect tool for people to avoid having to contemplate some of the unpleasant realities of their life. And with societal anxiety, unhappiness and depression all on the rise, staying busy has become an increasingly common way for many to cope.

Read more about happiness being in decline across the world

Being busy can also invoke the sense meaningfully contributing to society. When people are doing ‘something’, it can make them feel needed and valuable. This is especially common in people who strongly identify themselves by what they do (known as role-identity theory). People tend to feel unease whenever they are acting in a way that is incongruous with their own identity, and therefore often try to find situations that allow them to act out their self-identified role. For example, people who identify themselves as “volunteer” or “care-taker”, will often actively seek out opportunities to act in these roles. When these people don’t have the opportunity to act according to their self-beliefs, unease, unhappiness or depression often follow. A common example of this can be seen in those who suffer from post-retirement depression, where retirees can feel like their life has lost meaning without work to keep them busy.

Alternatively, busyness can become addictive due to the gains that people can derive from being busy. We most commonly see this in people who are busy with work, and for whom the hours they work has a significant impact on their overall income. Once people start working long hours and grow accustomed to the increased compensation that comes with it, they start to become accustomed to higher living standards that are difficult to scale back from. A good example of this is seen with FIFO (Fly In Fly Out) jobs. FIFO work is a somewhat common occupation in Australia where employees fly out to remote mining sites for weeks at a time before returning home. While on site these employees often work long shifts and have little downtime, which they alternate with more extended time periods at home in between.

Such an intense working schedule on distant locations can make it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance, and FIFO jobs therefore tend to pay very generously to compensate. But while many FIFO workers start their job with the intent of making a quick buck and getting out again, most find it hard to quit and return to a lesser paying job afterwards, especially when their initially higher income has resulted in increased spending with unpaid debts. As a result, those who start working a FIFO job can over time become ‘stuck’ in a job whose working conditions they might no longer enjoy. Given how likely FIFO work is to cause psychological distress, lower mental wellbeing, and increased chance of substance abuse, it’s difficult to say if the increase income levels are sufficient compensation. While the premise of working hard for a couple of years in order to rest on your laurels later on might sound good on paper, the shift in expectations regarding income means few people actually do this in practice.

To busy or not to busy, that is the question

Is the current trend towards busyness a worrisome development? If people can use being busy as a form of escapism to find relief from the stressors of their everyday life, should this be lamented? Is using busyness as a measure of social status really any worse than other common indicators such as income? Does falsely signaling busyness to others due to societal pressures have a detrimental effect on people? In all cases, the answer is a resounding yes.

“Perhaps the generations of old were on to something.”

Escapism can often be sign of depression, and people who stay busy to avoid their issues are unlikely to resolve them. Instead, ignoring the problem not only means it doesn’t disappear, it actually makes it increasingly likely the problem and / or the underlying depression might get worse. Busyness is also a much more harmful indicator of social status compared to say income, because our direct influence on income tends to be limited (don’t we all want to make more money?), while we have much more control over how busy we are. By attributing social value to busyness, we incentivize people to live busier lives, regardless of whether that would actually make them any happier. People can feel obligated to fill their schedule and have less free time available simply to meet social norms. And what about people faking their busyness? Having to maintain a constant facade that’s not representative of someone’s real personality is a continuous mental drain that can lead to depression.

If we want to evaluate someone’s social worth, we should look at the actual contributions they make to society, instead of relying on indirect and easily manipulated indicators such as busyness. As soon as we can stop seeing busyness as something to be desired, we can start to free up time for pursuing actual happiness instead of trying to meet some arbitrary social norms. Perhaps the generations of old were on to something, and we should all once again start striving towards being part of the leisure class.


How busy is your life? Do you feel societal pressure to stay busy? And how would you suggest we should deal with the busyness epidemic? Let us know in the comments below!

Ron Maas
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