We frequently say in life that we are busy. I do it and so do you. Busy with work, busy putting up the Christmas decorations, busy with our social lives, being busy doing this and that.
It implies that we are constantly finding things to do.
Or maybe we’re over cramming our lives and finding ourselves frequently stressed out beyond measure.
From my own experience, I’ve found that minimalism is one route that allows us to whittle down the junk in our lives and streamlines our focus. It allows us to remove the excess in life to focus on the things we truly love. By removing the distractions, the excess and the unimportant things, we are able to magnify our concentration on bigger things, giving them sharper focus. Things that truly need addressing. It is hard to do this and as I’ve discovered, not always consistent. But it is something I think we can all learn to do.
Thus, instead of becoming busy, we can become productive.
Through being productive, we can put a halt to being overcrowded and busy. Essentially this is the essence of minimalism. We can develop ourselves to a level where we can excel in the things we love. Productivity is about taking a few things that you really want to be great at and focusing your attention on them; instead of having countless small projects that never get off the ground. I’ve written before that failure is a word that ought to be rewritten – or that it should just be abandoned for a new word altogether. We need to rethink our mindset with being busy and being productive.
What is truly important is how we use our time and what we want to achieve whilst we’re here. Cecilia Knapp has spoken on creativity, which is linked to being productive (since we can flesh out our passions) commenting that some people do not think it is for them but there are ways that we can all include it in our everyday lives. Tim Ferris tells us in the 4 Hour Work Week that we should do the things that absolutely excite us instead of asking the question what to you want to do with your life. Niall Doherty advises that we should use our time to focus on our skills; get so good at them until we are wizards at them, allowing you to be your best version.
These three philosophies from three different authors all link to the same thing: productivity. Whatever your interest or action, all three have merit and should be examined as useful focal points in life. To further my point, I ask you to think of being productive (I’m trying to finish a written project by the end of next summer for example) not as a chore but as a priority.
To be busy is to be overcrowded in your mind and actions. It is to not place value on your work and to multitask on an excessive amount of things (I refer you to the wonderful Leo Babauta, who has written extensively on this topic.) To be productive is to excel at your work and focus only on a few things that you wish to be brilliant at. The goal of being productive is self-development (as opposed to self-despair which I see with being busy.) I insist on self-development as without this mindset we cannot work on helping ourselves or others.
Mindset is paramount to this being successful. One must be ruthless in stripping away the weight that causes these distractions. Your attitude and what you prioritise will grant you clarity in understanding what you can be productive in and thus learn to be brilliant at.
This is the difference between being productive and being busy. One is to grow and develop, to have scope and goals; to become your greatest version. The other is being overburdened, short sighted and to face messy circumstances that you cannot see past. It is to chase mice in the dark without a torch to guide you.
I started making my decisions when I embraced minimalism but you do not need this to start. One begins by asking the right questions.
The choice is up to you.