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The ONE Thing

488. The Hidden Cost of Being "Busy" (And What To Do Instead)

The ONE Thing

NOVA Media

Entrepreneurship, Business, Careers

4.61.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are you constantly busy but feeling unfulfilled? In this episode, Jay Papasan explores the hidden costs of busyness and how it impacts our stress levels, empathy, and ability to focus on priorities. He shares research-backed insights into why we fall into this trap and practical strategies to break free. Jay discusses how busyness can act as a shield, masking deeper fears of failure or discomfort. He also emphasizes the importance of prioritizing meaningful work, scheduling intentional downtime, and carving out thinking time to make better decisions. By focusing on what truly matters, you can create a more fulfilling and productive life. Challenge of the Week: Take 2–3 minutes each morning to ask yourself, “What is my ONE Thing today?” Identify your top priority and focus on it first, letting it guide your decisions and reduce unnecessary busyness. *** To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: the1thing.com/pods. We talk about: Why we fall into the busyness trap and the psychology behind it The difference between activity and productivity How prioritizing downtime and thinking time can lead to better decisions Links & Tools from This Episode: Free Resources Want to be a guest or share feedback? Email [email protected] or send us an audio note at Speakpipe.com/the1thing. Produced by NOVA

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Jay Papazan, and this is the One Thing, your weekly guide to the simple steps that lead to extraordinary results.

0:18.0

Hey, gang, Jay Papazan here. This week, we're going to talk about busyness. Business is this state where we're doing lots of stuff that may not amount to very much. This episode's for you, if you're a little bit like me. You're kind of a tasker. I've been called a tasker by my partner, by my wife, by more people than I care to count. And a lot of times, I'm kind of

0:38.0

proud of it. I'm kind of a doer. I like to be in action mode. A lot of times my wife and I will

0:44.2

try to get away for the weekend. We have a small property just north of Austin. It's our little ranch.

0:49.8

And instead of hanging out on the porch, sipping a frothy beverage and reading a great novel,

0:56.0

almost every single time, I'll be like, well, maybe I should mow some grass with a tractor.

1:00.9

Maybe I should chop some wood.

1:02.7

Maybe I should fire up that chainsaw.

1:05.0

And I have lots and lots of justifications for it.

1:07.7

Like the ranch needs the work.

1:08.9

It needs to be done.

1:09.7

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

1:16.1

And I'm going to be the responsible owner of the ranch. Or I sometimes will rationalize it. Hey, I deal with words. When you're making podcast and you're writing books,

1:20.9

you can spend all day and there's no physical representation of your work. You go out and mow the lawn,

1:27.3

you get to see every square

1:28.6

foot of change that you created. So it's rewarding work, as the rationale I'll say. But it's actually

1:35.2

a bit of a trap as well. If you're constantly busy, there are actually three costs, at least three

1:40.4

costs that I'll talk about today in this episode. I'll also explain why people like me,

1:45.1

and maybe you, fall prey to the busyness trap. There's some really good psychology around our

1:51.2

adversity to we just don't like to be sitting still. There's lots of reasons for this.

1:56.5

And finally, I'll kind of share a couple of things that you might implement in your life to

2:01.2

kind of escape the busyness trap.

...

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