Busyness without Business? A corrective reflection

Six years into the teaching service, I have never felt relaxed and accomplished. I hardly had time for myself. Every evening, right after school, I feel so exhausted, even to prepare a refreshing cup of tea. It takes at least an hour for fatigue to leave my body.
Somewhere in my mind being busy has acquired new status, and it has been wrongly synonymous to being important and productive. However, series of introspection revealed that, at the end of the day, nothing great has been achieved; sometimes it has not even been attempted, I decided to look up and write this piece.

Why was I usually busy?
In lieu of doing something, I have actually experimented with too many trivial activities that are neither part of my goal nor organization’s requirement. I have normally packed my days to brim which are typical of adrenalin junkie. The trickiest part of getting trapped in adrenalin junkie is that we are in busyness even without any serious business. I now realized that a day fueled by adrenaline is paralyzed and wasted day.

I was ruthlessly jumping from one task to another. In this context, words of Henry David Thoreau, “It is not enough to be busy. The question is: what are we busy about?” is the question and as well the solution for such total lack of priority. Despite knowing Eisenhower’s prioritization matrix, I have terribly failed to utilize the matrix to organize and complete the assignments. It must be for this reason that I always felt busy but not successful.

Thinkers such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Denzel Washington always cautioned, "Never confuse movement with progress." Opposed to what they advised, I have always been in constant movement, like oscillating pendulum, moving from one task to another and from one place to another. I have been a rocking horse without any progress. I was only running in a circle of circus, that has no end and nowhere to go. You see, it is such a pity, such a pitiful life I had so far. 

For the last six years, I have been too busy to learn, too busy to collaborate and too busy for such self-liberating refection. It is immense joy to reach this conclusion today. With all these trivial experiences came the liberating solution. How wonderful! It is advice to myself that, when the works and activities without purpose are too tempting; when the adrenalin rush is at its peak, discern the lasting values and goals to use the time and strengths in right ways for the right purpose. Never get into busyness without real business and purpose.

Finally, I want myself to remember this provocative quote of Denzel Washington,

“Just because you are doing a lot more doesn’t mean you are getting a lot done.”

All the best to myself.