The glorification of busy: Why I’m a crazy person

I’m a busy person. My husband and I both work full time in relatively demanding jobs. We have a 5 month old baby, a 10 year old, and three high energy dogs. I feel (like most of people) that the list never ends. I spend every waking hour just trying to get it all done. And I still never do.

I’m out of town this weekend. As I write this, my husband is texting me from our garage, where he has been working for the past 9 hours.

“How was your day?” I asked, award of the he has a to-do list for himself while the baby and I are gone.

“Too short.”

That is my standard answer, too. I don’t even know how many times I’ve said “I need more hours.”

Some of it is just where we are in life. Babies and puppies are demanding, no matter what your circumstances are. Some of it is deeper than that. “The glorification of busy” is a real thing in our culture and it is hurting so many of us.

Despite what I’ve told myself, I’m not more accomplished because I spend 18 hours a day trying to “get it all done.” I’m just more tired. Those days where I realize it’s been 4 days since I showered and I’m staying up until 1am so I have clean pump parts and dishes and clothes for the next morning are not a badge of honor. I turn into a crazy person, begging the baby to nap and putting dogs in their crates just so I can function long enough to get a few hours of work done, so that I can leave and run errands or do whatever else I “need” to get done.

All of this to say, I don’t have an answer. I’m not sure how to be less busy, because the reality is that the things I’m doing generally have to get done at some point. My husband is important. Our kids are important. Our dogs are important. Work is important. Our house is important.

I do know, though, that even God took a day off and told us to do that same. That’s 1/7 of our life we are supposed to dedicate to rest.

My “a-ha!” moment, if you will, is really very anti-climactic, but I think it’s significant: I am not more important because I am busy, and I do not have more value when I am running myself ragged. Quite the opposite, really. I have spent my whole life equating busyness with success. There is a lot to unlearn.

How do you stay un-busy? DO you stay un-busy?