11 signs that you could be a busy addict

This post is part of a series on slowing down you can find the rest of the series here – Slowing down.

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In the PWK annual survey I asked the following questions:

Would you agree with this statement – “My life is too busy”

62% of readers said yes. And up until recently I would have said yes too. I have been consciously working over the last two years to slow down and to keep the pace of our life to one that means I enjoy it and do not simply move through it, just getting stuff done.

It was however only at the end of last year that I made a pretty confronting realisation about myself. I had actually been addicted to being busy. And part of the reason it was taking me so long to slow things down was the same reason as it is for many addicts, I was finding letting go of my addiction hard. I had become used to seeing myself this way. I had become used to others seeing me this way.

Slowing down required me not to only change my behaviour, but also my mindset. I will share more of that next week, but today I have put together a list of 11 signs that you could be a busy addict. This list was super easy for me to put together because at some part of my life I have ticked off all of them! Over the upcoming posts I will share how I have stopped or reduced the frequency of these behaviours.

Don’t think that I don’t still like having my days full and achieving goals, because I do. Being productive and busy can be a good thing. Being addicted to being busy on the other hand can be detrimental to your health and your happiness, which is something I have learnt through experience.

11 signs that you could be a busy addict

  1. You are regularly late for appointments or catch ups.
  2. Deep down you see relaxing as a waste of time.
  3. When you do sit down and “relax” you start mentally creating a list of all the things you will do as soon as you stop relaxing.
  4. You frequently eat meals in the car or standing up while doing a task.
  5. You get your second wind for the day at about 9.30pm.
  6. On average you achieve less than seven hours a sleep a night.
  7. When you are talking to people in person or on the phone, you are thinking about what you will do when you stop talking to them.
  8. You are constantly multitasking.
  9. You say yes even though you want to say no to people asking for your commitment.
  10. You rarely celebrate the achievement of one goal before moving on the next.
  11. You regularly get caught in the trap of doing things to cross them of your list, instead of actually experiencing them.

So tell me are you / were you a busy addict?