Why do we feel busy all the time?

In the modern rhythm, people are constantly in a hurry. Constantly busy with something. There is not enough time for anything. You call a friend with an offer to go to the gym or to the bath - he cannot, because he is busy again . It seems that this is exactly the problem of the last time. It used to be somehow simpler ...

The question arises: is everyone really so busy or just feeling busy?

In recent years, many studies have been published ( 1 , 2 ) with evidence that people work less hours and take more vacations. Some work from home. Far more workers than before are part-time workers. So what happens?


The average annual number of working hours (thou.) In different countries of the world in 1990 and 2012, source.

Among the sociologists, the hypothesis prevails that the cause of "permanent employment" is technological progress. It would seem that the widespread distribution of home appliances should free up more time. People can calmly relax and unwind while the washing machine, dishwasher, and robot vacuum cleaner do their job. Fiction writers and futurologists of the past almost unanimously predicted the onset of a “lazy era” in the future, when robots do all the work, and people relax and rest. Yes, the robots really started to do a lot of housework. But for some reason this did not make most people relax and rest.

In 2012, in the UK, conducted a special study of Work Audit , which compares the work and life of citizens in 1952 and 2012. The authors of the study note that 60 years ago only in every fifth household there was a washing machine, in every tenth - a telephone, in every twentieth - a refrigerator. Almost no one had central heating. Less than half the people had a television. For comparison, modern Britons have all this, even relatively poor citizens. Scientists emphasize that nowadays it is enough to work fewer hours to get a much higher standard of living than our ancestors 60 years ago, who worked full-time and even more.

Researchers note an increase in work-related stress:

The rapid spread of digital information technology in the workplace has created opportunities for greater autonomy of workers, including more work at home, but also led to information overload, the report authors write, blurring the boundaries between working and non-working time and providing opportunities for more advanced monitoring and monitoring employees.

Another trend. Over the past 60 years, the share of intellectual workers has significantly increased (in the UK - from 25% to 44%), while the number of “blue collar workers” has decreased - that is, simple hard workers who work with their hands. It is possible that this is also somehow related to the permanent state of stress and “permanent employment”. A person working in the factory will not constantly hang on a smartphone and laptop during off-hours, check business mail, Skype and Slack chat. He can completely abandon his job and completely relax, unlike an IT worker. Studies show that less educated people usually have more free time.


American leisure time (hours per week) depending on education level (in years), including sleep time, in 1965–2005, source

Last year psychologist Aoife McLoughlin from the James Cook University of Singapore put forward another interesting theory , that technical gadgets speed up the processing of information by the brain and, thus, distort the subjective perception of time . It seems to a person that time becomes more informationally saturated, the brain “on doping” constantly drives, does not allow to relax, it requires new information.

Such a rhythm of life allows you to work more efficiently, to perform tasks faster, but the long-term effects of such “technodoping” can be unpleasant. This is stress, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep disorders, increased levels of depression, dissatisfaction. People feel the taste of life worse and seem to stop experiencing happiness from the very fact of their existence.

“We seem to be trying to emulate technology, to be faster and more efficient,” says McLaughlin. “It seems that in the technology itself there is something that lights us up and drives up an internal timer that measures the passing time.”

Scientists recommend periodically synchronize and “calm” the internal timer of time. To do this, they recommend at least once a week to disconnect from the Internet and social networks.

American psychologists in 2003 published a scientific paper that too many choices of entertainment cause stress and anxiety in an ordinary person.

It is known that the brain is easier to choose from two or three options than from 20 options. That is, the abundance of leisure options does not contribute to a better and better rest, scientists say. On the contrary, a person has a feeling of lack of time, stress. There are feelings of “pressure of time” (haste) and “loss of time” (hence the feeling of constant employment).

Let us emphasize that this study was still 2003 (!) Of the year, when the abundance of entertainment was more modest than it is now.

Barry Schwartz, a psychologist, also wrote about the importance of depriving consumers of a large number of choices in order to relieve them of stress in his famous book Paradox of Choice . His advice is used by many successful consumer electronics manufacturers. For example, Apple offers only two or three configuration options for its smartphones and computers, so as not to cause concern to the inhabitants.

Another reason why people constantly feel busy may be subconscious in nature. In the 19th century, the absolute symbols of wealth, success, and social status were freedom from work, idleness, and leisure. In the 21st century, it is businesslike , busyare considered high status indicators. If a person is constantly busy - before he was worthy of pity, forbearance. Now there is no: "Of course, I'm busy, I'm a very important person!". Studies say that modern man prefers to be busy : a highly developed intellectual being is not able to be in a mess for a long time. He's bored.

Why do people always feel busy? There is still no definitive answer to this question. Most research is based on surveys. Unfortunately, many people refuse to participate in surveys because ... they are too busy .