Is Busy Really Better?

I hear it all the time, and yes I use this all to famous line myself.  " I am just so busy"  Sometimes it comes with an apology because there was a delay in an email, text, phone call back, or a rescheduled date/appoitment.  I started to really think about these five words.    

I began listening more intently to the people around me "my plate is so full", " it seems like I'll never catch up" " I worked all week until 11 pm and still have so much to do", I'm so tired"  Everyone just pushing themselves to get ahead but is all this really worth it?  When does it end?  When do they get to feel caught up? When do they breath and feel rested?  All these questions made me start to pay more attention to how I feel day to day and how I am actually spending my time.    There is a lot of zipping here and zipping there, get this long list done quickly so I can get more done.   Everyone expects a reply as soon as they have sent the question.   We have created the expectation that because we have this technology to always be connected we always should be.  I do not agree with nor like this unspoken rule. 

I am noticing more and more I resent this way of living.  This crazy busy and always connected.  As much as I'd like to be less a part of it I can't at this stage of my life.  In my industry people expect quick response times and fast turn around times. It is exhausting, always trying to get back to everyone as soon as they reach out, to produce efficiently when it is not only up to me to do so.  There is a chain of people involved in the process and I can only control what I do.  There are some people who understand this, others who do not.  It is a competitive field, my clients could leave me at any moment.  I am confident I execute great customer services and I do go above and beyond for the people I work with, but do they see that I don't know.  A lot of the stuff I do for them is behind closed doors, and they only see if I delivery on time and if my price is right for them.  

There is always this unsettling feeling within, this pressure to get it done fast, the more clients I inquire the harder it is to stay on top of things.  The thing is the more clients I get the better it is for my career, my mental health, not so much.  

This busy lifestyle I have created for myself has become unattractive. I crave a more simple life.  One that I don't rush from one place to the next.  One where I am not struggling to keep up with my workload, social and family life.  A life where I am less stressed about getting everything done and can really just embrace and enjoy what I am doing.  So I ask myself, Is Busy Really Better?