Do You Spend More Time Doing than Being?
People spend more time doing than being. What this means is that most humans are so programmed by society that they forget their individual needs. Many people spend their lives doing tasks with the sole purpose of “being productive”. It’s as if their well-being depended on it.
In a way, most live their lives immersed in a routine: working, cooking, drinking coffee with friends, going to the gym, doing laundry, showering, and going to the hairdresser, among many other tasks. Such is the cultural programming that many people begin to plan their next tasks even when they haven’t finished the one they’re on now. Unfortunately, they seldom enjoy the here and now.
When you spend more time doing than being
Sometimes, you may forget to be and seldom stop to think about who you are and what you need. In other words, you tend to focus a lot of your energy on completing certain tasks and activities, organizing your time, and sticking to your agenda.
Thus, many people ignore the fact that there’s a present. So consequently, most focus on the future and overlook the importance of enjoying the here and now.
People forget to laugh, be grateful, appreciate the nature that surrounds them, hug, kiss, show affection, feel the pure air, walk freely, and enjoy the taste of a good cup of coffee, among other things.
Sometimes, people just don’t appreciate the small details of their everyday lives and immerse themselves in completing chores and crossing them out of their to-do lists.
It’s never enough
As you can see, people become mechanical, dissatisfied and frustrated and have the constant feeling that they don’t do enough almost without even realizing it. This is because when you spend more time completing things, your list of things to finish becomes infinite.
But is it really possible to complete all the tasks you set out to? It’s likely you’ll always have something left to do.
Focusing your attention on what needs to be done can lead to a lot of frustration when you can’t reach your set goals.
In turn, there’s huge dissatisfaction and you think you can’t ever manage to do everything you want to do. Therefore, you’re not satisfied with your performance. What happens in these cases is that your self-esteem depends on your achievements and not so much on who you are.
“First I was dying to finish high school and start college. And then I was dying to finish college and start working. And then I was dying to marry and have children. And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough for school so I could return to work. And then I was dying to retire. And now, I’m dying… and suddenly I realize I forgot to live.”
-Anonymous-
Are your priorities truly important?
Úrsula Calvo, an expert in personal transformation, agrees that time management should depend on priorities. And that the most important thing is to be honest. However, to be honest, you must decide what your priorities are. In other words, you must decide how much time you should devote to leisure activities. Then, you must make these activities very important commitments you can’t avoid.
As you can see, it’s often difficult to complete a list of priorities. You dedicate a lot of your energy to daily activities such as eating, working, cooking, and taking care of others, among other tasks that you leave no time to be with yourself to think about anything you want to or not think at all.
You don’t usually find sitting down and wondering what you want, what you need, or who you are in your list of daily priorities. Therefore, you dedicate more time to doing than enjoying your life. And you overlook yourself in your list of priorities.
As Calvo states, it’s convenient to follow a list of priorities based on you alone. State what you need and consider it an unavoidable commitment. If you take the time you need and make yourself a priority, your satisfaction levels will increase.