Antz, the computer-animated movie about the angst of misfit worker ant, “Z” who feels trapped by the conformist confines of his totalitarian ant civilization and eventually sets forth in search of Insectopia. He strives to reconcile his own individuality with the communal work-ethic of the ant colony and falls in love with ant-princess Bala. Z strives to make social inroads, before saving the ant colony from the treacherous scheming of the evil General Mandible that threaten to wipe out the entire worker population.
Every new year as I (and everyone around me) get back into all thing’s “work” – drawing up schedules, setting up meetings, despairing over the limited hours in a day – I smile when I remember this movie where we all strive to make our own inroads; building or saving our colonies from the treacherous scheming of the evil “General Mandible” that threaten to wipe us out…
Yes, we live in a world where being busy is a reality for most of us. Yes, our lives are full and hectic. And there’s nothing wrong with having a full and busy life. However, I have come to believe that happiness and fulfilment in our busy lives, directly correlates to being busy in areas that actually matter. Of course, what “actually matters” is completely subjective and unique to each of us.
For example, while running any business requires constant prioritisation, an early-stage start-up requires an especially rapid pace, and things change constantly. For entrepreneurs there’s a desire to always put the business first, but without proper self-care and clear boundaries between work and life, there’s real burnout risk and it will be difficult to perform our best.
In our culture of constant access to technology, information, and connection, I think most of us have fallen into the wrong type of busy. Busy work without a real purpose to it. Busy because we are uncomfortable not being busy. Busy for the sake of being busy.
Finding work-life balance is always a struggle for everyone. With this in mind, the problem with being busy for the sake of being busy is that most of these mindless tasks don’t contribute to a real purpose in our lives. I believe this leaves us feeling tired and unfulfilled in the long run.
This year, I want to challenge all of us (including myself) to make sure our busy work contributes to a fruitful purpose in our live. We have to hold ourselves accountable to doing busy work that is also fulfilling and meaningful, not just staying “always on” because we feel guilty to switch off…
In 2019, my goal is to work harder at setting boundaries and making sure I remain my best, healthiest self. If you’d like to learn how to be busy with purpose and fulfilment, let’s meet and chat through your goals to make this year your own.
2019, I own you!