Alright, let’s talk about this whole “busy champ” thing. For a while there, I was all in on it. Seriously, I thought that was the secret sauce, the key to everything. If you weren’t drowning in tasks, were you even trying? That was my mindset.
So, what did my “busy champ” phase look like? Oh, it was a masterpiece of organized chaos, let me tell ya.
- I had my days planned down to the minute. No joke. From 6 AM workouts to late-night “strategic thinking” which was mostly just me staring at a wall, exhausted.
- Breaks? Ha! Breaks were for the weak. I’d eat lunch at my desk, usually something I could inhale in five minutes flat.
- I was the king of multitasking. Answering emails while on a call, while also trying to draft a report. Spoiler: I did all three things badly.
- My to-do list was epic. I’d put tiny stuff on it, like “drink water,” just so I could get the satisfaction of ticking something off. Pathetic, I know.
I felt like a machine, churning things out. For a hot minute, I actually thought I was getting somewhere. People would say, “Wow, you’re always so busy!” and I’d puff my chest out, like it was a compliment. What a chump I was, a busy chump, indeed.
Now, you’re probably wondering, why on earth did I put myself through that?
Well, it wasn’t like I woke up one day and decided to become a professional stress-ball. It all started after I got booted from my old job at “FutureCorp.” Yeah, “FutureCorp,” what a name. They were all about “synergy” and “disruption” until they disrupted my employment. One Friday afternoon, it was the classic “your role is being restructured” speech. Cold, impersonal, done deal. Left me feeling like a complete idiot, to be honest.
So there I was, suddenly jobless, with that lovely feeling of failure gnawing at me. I figured the only way to get back on my feet and prove I wasn’t a total write-off was to be the most productive, most indispensable person ever. I had to become a “busy champ” just to feel like I was worth anything. Every waking moment had to be about “doing.” If I wasn’t busy, I felt guilty, like I was wasting precious time and falling further behind.
The thing is, being a “busy champ” didn’t actually make me better. Sure, I was doing a lot. But was I achieving a lot? Not really. I was tired all the time. Snappy with my family. Made stupid mistakes at my next gig because I was too strung out to think straight. I remember sending a crucial email to the wrong client. Mortifying. All because I was trying to juggle ten things at once, trying to look like I was a productivity god.
It took a pretty spectacular burnout for the penny to finally drop. I was sitting there one day, staring at my screen, and I just couldn’t make myself do another thing. I was done. Cooked. That’s when I realized this whole “busy champ” persona was a load of garbage. Being busy doesn’t equal being effective. It often just means you’re good at running around in circles.
Now? I still work hard, don’t get me wrong. But I’m smarter about it. I actually take breaks. I focus on one thing at a time, mostly. And if someone calls me a “busy champ” now, I just laugh. It’s not a badge of honor, folks. It’s a warning sign.
