It had been a busy day. Joan had been running since early morning; it was now late afternoon. She was anxious to get home.
She whipped onto the parkway and almost ran into a parked car. Ahead of her, three cars were stopped in the middle of the road. In a hurry to pass, she swung around the car in front of her. But the driver drew her attention, pointing urgently at the ground ahead of the first car.
Taking their time to cross the road, a mother duck was ushering six small ducklings as they waddled across the street. Joan was grateful the driver stopped her. She sighed in relief. Maybe she wasn’t in that much of a hurry after all. Like the other drivers, she sat back and enjoyed watching as the ducks entered the woods and waddled out of sight.
Being busy seems to be “in” nowadays. We’ve never been busier, and we love to brag about it.
But here’s the thing – according to Harvard Business Review, no one is benefitting from hearing how busy you are.
Don’t let being busy define you. It doesn’t describe your intelligence or show how ambitious or persistent you are. It doesn’t say anything about the things you’re excited about or what you’ve learned from the book you’re reading or even how your mother is.
Next time someone asks you, “How are you?”, share something you’re doing that’s interesting or exciting, a joke or an article that made you think. It’ll make for a much more interesting conversation than, “I’m so busy!”
The road is easier together,
