I am a student of time; mostly because I have a real fear of wasting it. For as long as I can remember, I have given the choices in front of me too much thought in order to make the best decision that will waste the least amount of time. So when I started reading The Energy Clock by Molly Fletcher, I was instantly all in. In one of the chapters, she writes about how we sometimes confuse activity with accomplishment. This reminds me of a study that I read once about video games. Basically, the study said that the act of winning in the game or completing a level, leaves the person feeling as if they’ve accomplished something when in actuality, when the game is over, everything in real life is still the same. This would explain why it’s hard to stop playing!
In the same way, there are many things that we do as humans that may give us a sense of accomplishment but haven’t really moved the needle on getting us closer to our goals. For example, have you ever set out to clean a closet and got stuck trying on clothes? Have you ever opened your phone to do something and got distracted by social media? Then tell yourself that you’ve been working on that particular thing for hours? There are many instances I can think of when I’ve gotten distracted and started working on something else.
Not confusing activity with accomplishment is an incredible skill to have. Once we have it, we can also lead by example and help those we love develop that skill as well!
The next time you find yourself busy, pause and think about whether or not the behavior aligns with what you were intending to accomplish. One of the practices Molly Fletcher suggests we incorporate into our busy lives is to ask ourselves if what we are doing will matter to us next year. Will we remember it five years from now? Will anyone around me even care about it next week?
Cleaning up our time as if we were getting rid of clothes we don’t use, can leave room for the things that matter most to us. Remember. Just because we’re busy, doesn’t mean we are accomplishing something.