The Myth of “Everyone’s So Busy”

Switch It Off

We live in an age where the default answer to “How are you?” is, “Busy.” It has become a kind of cultural badge of honour. But scratch the surface and the picture looks less like a time famine and more like a time mismanagement epidemic.

Once, leisure activities such as gardening, reading, sport, or simply spending time in nature were central to everyday life. People took pride in making things, doing things, and producing something tangible. Today, vast swathes of that time have been surrendered to the bottomless scroll of social media feeds and video clips. Instead of enriching their lives, people spend hours each day staring at tiny screens, consuming an endless stream of trivialities.

Technology was sold to us as a great time-saver. Computers, smartphones, apps, and automation were meant to free us from mundane tasks and give us more space for meaningful work and leisure. The reality has been the opposite. Email, instant messaging, notifications, and algorithm-driven platforms have not freed us — they have tethered us. We are now expected to be constantly available, responding instantly, and filling any potential downtime with yet more screen time. In the workplace, this has created a culture of “pseudo-productivity” — sending flurries of messages, attending back-to-back meetings, and updating project dashboards — all of which look like work but often get in the way of actually doing anything of substance.

Outside work, the addiction to devices continues. Most people cannot leave their phone untouched for even a few minutes, interrupting meals, conversations, and even moments of quiet reflection. This compulsive checking erodes the ability to focus, think deeply, or sustain attention on anything more demanding than a short video. Over time, it atrophies the skills needed for creativity, problem-solving, and genuine human connection.

There is also a growing aversion to the act of producing something — whether that’s cooking a meal from scratch, repairing a broken item, or writing a thoughtful letter. In a culture where it’s easier to buy than to make, and easier to consume than to create, many have lost the satisfaction that comes from tangible achievement. Instead, we occupy ourselves with digital consumption, mistaking it for activity, while our hands and minds remain idle.

The obsession with busyness serves other purposes too. It can make us feel important, in demand, and indispensable. Employers often reward those who appear busiest, regardless of their actual output. And in a competitive job market, projecting a state of constant activity can be seen as a form of self-protection. But this is a hollow victory: the price is burnout, loss of community connection, and a dwindling capacity for clear, reflective thought.

The truth is that “everyone is so busy” is less a statement of fact and more a self-perpetuating narrative. We have the same 24 hours as our grandparents did, but we have chosen — often unconsciously — to fill them with distractions, interruptions, and low-value activity. Reclaiming our time means turning away from the constant noise, re-embracing productive and creative pursuits, and remembering that being busy is not the same as living a full life.

Switch off the TV and the phone, you’ll be amazed how much time you have.