The Busy, Entertained, Exhausted Cycle

The rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, who is in a rush, worried about the time, and stressed, seems to represent all of us. We all have so much to do and so little time. Yet studies show that the maniacal stress is killing us – the pressure to do more, accomplish more, be more successful, and outcompete all the other people who are trying to outcompete us is in many ways worse for us and society. This results in toxic and sabotaging cultures rather than sharing and collaborative cultures. In the end, we want to take the credit. We want the reputation, and we want people to like us or fear us or do as we say.

We seem to be an ego trapped in a shell of a body, in need of mental and spiritual growth, rather than more tasks to add to our to-do lists.

Unfortunately, we live in an age where people must be busy or entertained at all times. What we are busy with doesn't seem to matter that much. The busier we are doing something for someone, the more productive we feel and the better we feel about ourselves. When we are not busy, we feel that we have earned the right to be entertained. When we can, we pursue this escape from our busy lives, often through social media or television shows.

So, we cycle between busy and entertained, and we no longer have tolerance or the ability to hold our attention on nature, which is not eager to entertain us or make us busy. We are unable to meditate because, again, this is not about busyness or entertainment. We cannot just be, exist, do nothing, and enjoy that experience for whatever it may hold. Someone finds themselves with nothing to do for a few seconds, and they must pull out their phone to see how all their friends are being entertained on social media or to read the new sensational article that makes a crazy argument just because this is what people tend to click on.

We are thirsty for more and more and more stuff happening, but where it is quite trivial. Our day-to-day cycle is work where our employers demand more and more and more for the sake of always making improvements, where improvement really means to make more dollars for the bosses. Our benefit is nothing other than to keep on working to repeat the vicious cycle. Then we go home and entertain ourselves, then we sleep and rest restlessly due to the excessive busyness and stress, and repeat.

The focus on busyness leaves us feeling unfulfilled. As eating popcorn may feel good but ultimately be unfulfilling to your appetite, being perpetually busy with stuff to do that fills your day can leave you feeling as if you accomplished little in the end. If, at the end of the day, you’re just burnt out, dreading tomorrow, then you may have gotten caught in the Busy, Entertained, Exhausted Cycle.

When this happens, we are treated as basic output systems (e.g., work), input (e.g., entertainment), rest, repeat, living like machines. We are treated like machines designed to produce stuff, and if we do not produce it, then we are dysfunctional, and society casts us away.

I feel that we are in a sort of trance or daze, of being busy and entertained perpetually, without much personal understanding. For example, understanding our role in life, understanding what it means to be alive, and how to build a good society or even a good family. Our minds are always occupied with something, and so this gives us the impression that we are making true progress in our lives.

But are we really?

What if we were busy doing the wrong stuff, thinking the wrong way, and getting stuck in unfulfilling and vicious cycles? 

It seems that learning and wisdom, and understanding happen in the gaps of time when we are not so busy doing and filling our brains with media and sounds and imagery and trivial matters. It seems that if we can slow down the influx of noise and take a moment to breathe and relax what our mind must process, we could actually use that time to grow. As the brain needs so much sleep and we rest 8 hours a day, it seems hard to imagine that a constant stream of busyness, an influx of media noise, and always being entertained would be optimal for our growth as humans.

Remember: Be more and do less.