Parkinson’s Law says that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” What this means is that if you have one task to complete (like writing a term paper in college) and it is due in 4 weeks, you will take 4 weeks to complete this. But if you’re given 48 hours to complete it? Guess what…you’ll probably complete it in 48 hours and it be nearly as good of a paper.
The reason I bring this up is because I feel that it relates to busy people and non-busy people. Busy people have a long To Do list and manage to complete it all in a day. They keep moving until it is done and don’t realize how tired they are until they sit down at night. Non-busy people have a shorter To Do list. They complete their list in the same amount of time as the busy people, but because they are not stimulated (not moving as much, not taking as much action), they have more time to focus on them being tired.
Action leads to energy. Being busy leads to getting more done (being productive). If I don’t have anything to do and I don’t have any interests to pursue, I feel tired. But if I have a lot to do and many interests, I am able to get them done with all the energy I need, then am able to relax and sleep well. I think that you’ll find the same thing.
So which will you choose to be? Busy? Or not?