Fwiw, I like this use of the platform. I’ve been wondering what else Relevant could facilitate outside of link sharing, and good-faith conversation/idea sharing seems like a start. That said, this is a big question you’re asking, and I can’t give a full answer here. I do find that for me “busy-ness” takes two forms: Attending to what needs to be done, and pursuing what I want to accomplish. So often my being busy is part of doing what I prefer. When it’s not, I’m likely running errands and doing what must be done to pay the bills before I can get on to what’s more meaningful to me.

I agree 100% with this. As individuals, we feel like we are constrained whenever we force ourselves to follow a specific habit or a specific order of actions (what if someones schedules a call at the time I am at the gym every morning?), this comes from our loss aversion and it is completely natural. While this could work while we still lived in caves, today we just have TOO many distractions with instant rewards and this makes it incredibly hard to concentrate on meaningful things since the former usually give some form of delayed reward (If I work hard I'll be promoted in 1 year, if I go to the gym every day I will be fit in 2 months). So habits and being strictly organized makes our decision mind rest and lets us concentrate on what's really important for us in life.

I feel like there’s a lot to get into here 😊 On one hand, society pushes the cult of busyness on us, since being busy is seen as “good”. I’m shocked at how early in life this starts, having become aware of how marketers push “busy” toys and other mindless activities on new parents and other overwhelmed parents. Keep your kids “busy” and they won’t cause trouble, i.e. get in your way or cause you an inconvenience. I also feel society wants us to stay busy, so that we are too busy to recognize the hamster wheel many of us spin in. Make $, spend it, lose yourself along the way. Keep busy and you won’t even notIce 😬 The cycle can accelerate endlessly, i.e. make more $, buy more and increasIngly expensive stuff. If we spin in it unconsciously the marketers, those whose products are selling and those who profit from our unconscIous labor benefit. Finally, staying busy can be our own distraction technique. It’s easy to stay busy in one are of our life to avoid other areas of in life we may want to avoid. Phew 😅 I’ve got more on this, yet have hit the limit on how long I can comfortably type on my phone 😊

Marcin, I like your questions and I believe that asking questions here, on Relevant, is right. Relevant is not only for posting somebody’s articles but also for sharing our own ideas and questions. If we really want to do something we need concentration, real discipline and no distraction. If we don’t do what we prefer or value more it might be that we are not ready. We might have to procrastinate sometime in order to experience a surge from within to sit down and truly begin. There is an interesting talk by Adam Grant on [Ted.com](http://Ted.com) about creativity.

1. How do we differentiate between being busy and the perception of being busy? 2. How do we resolve the problem once we have differentiated? The first seems to be the parent problem, and every new moment inherits the challenge of the parent problem. “am I really busy, or do I feel busy?” I think this is what makes busyness and other psychological states with corresponding IRL actions and rewards, so insidious. The threat can reassert itself at any moment provided the right trigger. This leaves the heavy lifting to people while in a bad place for focused deliberation. I think this is the problem that the "hook model" commonly used in digital IT has presented us with, and one of the symptoms is busyness. Triggers (speculating, didn't get this far yet, just trying to collect some of the feedback ya'll giving) 1. cultural demands 2. personal desires 3. denial