Are you caught in a ‘busy’ trap? I’ve just finished reading an article from The New York Times about that very subject.

Many clients I work with are caught in the ‘busy’ trap and they don’t even realize it. It’s like being a hamster running on a wheel all day long and never seeing the end; just running in a circle as fast as you can from dawn until dusk. Whoa, hold up a minute people. Is this all there is to life? I certainly hope not.

Fortunately, some clients who hire me to help them become more efficient and able to put their fingers on what they need when they need it are looking for that elusive extra hour a day so they can stop being so busy. Music to my ears. Although there are those who ask me to help them find an ‘extra’ hour a day so they can be more busy —yikes!

Now, the problem with trying to get off the busy wheel is that it may be received negatively by those around you. After all, when someone asks you how you are, isn’t your standard response —“I'm crazy busy.” And their standard response is, “Oh, that’s great, good for you.”

Are we all addicted to busyness? Busyness is equated with success, isn’t it? I believe that part of becoming a more organized person allows you to have some down time.

What if next time someone asks you how you are you could respond, “Just great. I am not busy at all.”

Somehow that sounds so bizarre, doesn’t it? However, the more I think about it, the more intriguing it becomes. Maybe you can master the art of ‘not busy’ on the weekends, to start. However, that’s also not so easy.

When you arrive at work on Monday morning everyone wants to know what you did all weekend. Your response is related to how many activities you managed to pack into the weekend, along with groceries, laundry and cleaning the house.

Being busy somehow makes us feel more important, more in demand, even if it’s only self-inflicted demand.

You are probably working as hard as you can so you can retire and do nothing, right? Maybe you should all stop working so darn hard so that you have some time to enjoy your life right now. I’ve read that the eight-hour workday was invented because after eight hours you get too tired to do anything much anyway.

Your return on time invested after eight hours diminishes quickly. You will be a happier, healthier, more productive employee if you work less, play more, relax more and just stop being so darn busy!

Now ‘'m off to follow some of my own advice and next time you see me and ask how I am, hopefully I'll say, “I’m fabulous; not busy at all.”