Being “busy” is often a necessary/mandated function for many people: As an example, the full-time working parent that has a full-time, stressful job, a commute to that job, post-school activities for the children to drive/attend and household responsibilities, such as providing family meals, cleaning, etc is very busy on multiple levels. That person cannot somehow not be busy.
Alternatively, there are other people such as retirees, with no children in the home and no jobs that are self-imposed busy. Those people may join too many clubs, volunteer at many places and place other things on their activity plates that keep them busier than they intended.
Being “busy” will often lead to the inability to focus on things that perhaps are very important. For example, the aforementioned busy working parent may be so busy that there is virtually no time to spend on her/himself. This may lead to lack of attention to living a healthy lifestyle. Not being able to plan/prepare healthy meals will lead to weight control issues.
Conversely, not being busy enough may lead to boredom and this, in turn, may lead to deleterious behaviors such as snacking on foods that will cause weight gain and/or drinking alcohol that will similarly derail weight control efforts.
The point of this entry: For this that have a sort of “mandated business”, try to figure out a way of carving out time for self-care. For those that voluntarily place too much “busy-ness” in their lives, try to cone back a bit to ensure you also have self-care time built into your schedule as well. And for those that are not busy at all, try to find productive, meaningful ventures that preserve your sense of “contribution” and not allow yourself to fall into a boredom-induced state leading to deleterious eating/drinking behaviors.
Balance your “busy-ness” quotient as best you can, as this will lead to improved health.
And here is an oldie…The Eagles singing “BUSY Being Fabulous”
