Weekly Wednesday Wisdom 4: BUSY is the ENEMY of HEALTHY

"BUSY" is the ENEMY of "HEALTHY."

Remember this one.

We are obsessed with being – or at least being perceived as being – busy.

"Hey, Benen, how are you doing?" 

"Oh I'm good....busy...."

We all do this. It's expected. Even when we're not actually all that busy. It's as if being busy is a barrier of acceptance from other adults.

"Oh yeah? That's good. It's good to be busy..."

Is it, though?

No, it's not. 

People that are "busy" all the time never allow themselves peace and quiet. They never develop a sense of awareness of what's going on inside them or around them. 

Busy gets in the way of our dreams and our goals.

We use "being busy" as an excuse!

It's a noble excuse to skip workouts. "Too busy."

It's an acceptable excuse to eat poorly on a regular basis. "Oh, you know, I would eat healthier if I had time to cook my own meals and prepare food, but I'm just too busy."

Yeah, ohhkay.

I've made many posts about how easy and quick cooking/preparing and consuming healthy meals can be. And if you've got time to drive to a restaurant sit down, be waited on, pay the bill, and drive home, you've got plenty of time to go to the grocery store, buy decent protein and carb sources, cook up meat and rice with a side of veggies (as an example). Or you could just buy a rotisserie chicken and some veggies and fruit – even faster and easier.

From a general health perspective, being busy is dreadful. People always look at the "blue zones" and try to nitpick their diet and lifestyle. 

Some have noticed that some of these blue zone citizens drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, and, thereby, via mental gymnastics, conclude:

"Alcohol and cigarettes are good for you! These guys do it in southern Italy and Greece, and they live forever. Also, our food in the US is poisoning us, so I'm screwed just by being born here [in such an insanely privileged country, relative to most in the world]."

You know what nobody talks about, though, when looking at "blue zones?"

The lack of "hustle" in their cultures. 

Sure, they walk more, and they definitely maintain positive social lives. But all of this is a result of the fact that they live at a slower pace.

In American culture (maybe others, as well), slower pace of living is scoffed at. It's looked down upon.

But constantly hustling about and choosing to busy ourselves with unnecessary tasks and deadlines simply adds stress. It encourages us to drive more because it's faster than walking. We order delivery and eat alone in front of the TV while doing "work" because it's faster than sitting down with friends, making food, and conversing.

Busy is stressful. And stress can be deadly. Stress certainly plays little favors for our body composition, unless, of course, that stress comes as a result of exercise – which is a positive stress, known as eustress, instead of distress – which is what we usually associate stress as. 

Focus on being less busy. 

I did a digital fast recently where I did zero screens of any sort (and no audio either) for 24 hours. 

During this time I spent time outside, I socialized, I did a lot of reading, I went on 2 walks, and I did some chores. 

Our screens make us feel busy, even if that screen is just streaming a football game. 

Taking time to reset away from screens, and intentionally avoiding any busy work (which in my life is done mostly on the phone or computer) is a great way to limit some of these nervous, busy habits. 

Even checking our phone – which we all do throughout the day, often for no reason at all – is a busy tick.

If you want to be healthy, stop obsessing about being busy.

Start being present.

Get your daily exercise.

Eat quality nutrition each day. But allow yourself a cheat each week if you like.

Adopt some relaxing hobbies.

Get outside and walk or just sit or do a relaxing hobby or recreational sport outside. 

Find time to socialize.

Find time, and get comfortable, being in silence for a little bit each day. 

I'm not saying avoid responsibilities. I am saying cut back on adding unnecessary responsibilities to your plate just for the sake of doing something all the time. You shouldn't need to distract from your real life and you should NEVER de-prioritize exercise and nutrition. 

Unfortunately, our obsession with being busy all the time interferes with our ability to spend time doing healthy activities – like lifting weights and doing some fun cardio (it should be fun to do your cardio, especially if you take it outside, rain or shine).

I guarantee you're not as busy as you perceive yourself to be. Find the areas of your life where you've added unnecessary "busy work" and cut it back. Find things that cause you stress and limit those activities (screens may, unknowingly be one of these stressors, so experiment with setting boundaries on your screen time. I'm currently experimenting with this, also, by the way).

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