America's cult(ure) of busyness

On this Labor Day weekend, I want to discuss one of the greatest powers in our country, and it's neither the president nor we the people. I want to reflect upon the power of America's cult or culture of busyness, and then I want to encourage you to avoid its extremes and harmful pitfalls.

Labor Day weekend is one of those strange but great American (even patriotic) weekends and pastimes when we honor labor by an extended three-day rest. And, truth is, we need it because we are running ragged and faster than ever; at least we are utterly convinced that we are. So convinced that we are taking off less and less time every year.

Outside of China, America is now the highest no-vacation nation, according to Market Watch. What that means is not only does our government not require companies to give its employees vacation time, but Americans don't want it – don't need it.

According to a study in 2015 by Oxford Economics, the number of annual vacation days used by employees has steadily declined over the past 20 years. Americans are now taking off an average of only 16 days a year, less than half of what many Europeans take.

Why? Most of all, Americans believe we can't afford to take time off because we simply have too much to do. We're too busy living out the "American Dream" as we perceive it – or is that just paying off the American Dream as we've borrowed it?

Many of us are fearful of what will happen if we take the time off. Will our world hold together? Can it get by without me? What will be the state of my job when I return? My family? My friends? Will I really enjoy my time off, or be thinking constantly about what I have to do when I get back? Will I really be able to "get away"?

Bottom line, we're too busy to break.

Strangely, but not shockingly, for those who take vacation, the No. 1 thing Americans want to do during that time is nothing at all

John Hopkins Health Review published an article (Spring/Summer 2016) titled, "The Cult of Busy." The main premise of the piece is that there's a global epidemic of overscheduling, and it's running our lives and ruining our health.

As the Hopkin's study reported, "You likely don't need studies and surveys to convince you we're a time-starved culture. Simply ask someone how he or she is doing and the likely response is, 'I'm busy.'"

"Busyness is more than an annoying truth of modern life. It has emerged as a significant health concern, according to Joseph Bienvenu, a psychiatrist and director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He sees patients wound up from so much overscheduling that they can't sleep, think, or make time for important activities like exercise. 'Emotional distress due to overbusyness manifests as difficulty focusing and concentrating, impatience and irritability, trouble getting adequate sleep, and mental and physical fatigue,' he says. 'This is a vicious cycle, of course. Emotional distress leads to trouble with sleep and fatigue, and lack of sleep and exercise leads to more distress.'"

The study continued, "Studies have found that habitual stress shrinks the brain's gray matter. It also changes our epigenetic makeup over time. James Potash, the former director of research at the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center, found in a 2010 study that chronic stress results in an overdose of cortisol, which can influence epigenetic markers. (If you think of your genes as a computer, then the epigenetic markers are like the software running those genes and telling them how to behave.) Cortisol is the steroid secreted in the body to instigate the 'fight or flight' response to danger, a valuable asset when a tiger rounds the bend but not so valuable in today's busyness culture. 'You can't fight or flee modern stressors like work deadlines,' Potash said. Consequently, the chronic release of cortisol could lead to depression or other mood disorders including anxiety, irritability, or insomnia. Being pulled in too many directions can also strain relationships. When we don't spend quality time with loved ones – and sacrifice social time for a harried to-do list – that can add to emotional unrest, according to Johns Hopkins cardiologist Erin Michos. 'Many studies suggest that emotional stress is hard on your health – raising blood pressure and heart rate, for example,' she says."

The culprit and heart of the remedy lie in how we view, interact with and value time, according to the John Hopkin's study. Our problem is called "time poverty," and we're depleted because we've doled it out to all the things we believe – right or wrong – we need to commit to.
According to experts, the truth is, too many have sold out time for money. Our culture now values money more than time, and so we've traded the latter away for the former. As a result, our time bank is bankrupt, and most likely so is our rest and rejuvenation.
Tim Kasser, a psychologist and professor at Knox College in Illinois, conducted research that found a connection between financial pursuits and overall wellness. People that believed pursuing financial success was important to them also reported lower well-being.
Today, many additional studies have supported those correlations. The relationship between passion for materialism and negative well-being is a fact, including studies that show the more people value material things, the more they smoke and over-consume alcohol.
The Hopkins study elaborated on this as well: "When time became money, our relationship to relaxation also changed. It used to be that the mark of accumulated wealth was leisure – restorative moments away from the toils of labor to enjoy other pursuits. Today, productivity is our top priority. Even the wealthiest among us toil away, packing schedules and squeezing every ounce of value from every second. … As we compete to be productive, busyness is as much a status symbol as anything else."

That's the bad news. The good news is the study also says there's hope: "Experts are also learning, however, that there are ways to reverse that [time-poverty] deficiency. Once you understand the root of our modern propensity for busyness – and our singular fealty to the ticking clock – you can wrest some control over your life again."

The fact is, we are more than human doings. We are human beings. And we need to be reminded of the power of being, and being still, and that we are just as valuable when we're doing nothing at all – dare I say, resting too.

Outside of what you do, produce or borrow, you are a child of God who is worthy to be loved and live a life of freedom and enjoyment, independent of what you possess, power through or because of a position you have.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not advocating laziness. I believe that we need to lead busy and productive lives. I just also think we need to learn to carpe diem ("seize the day") before it seizes us – and seizures us. We need to learn the value of power naps and minute vacations even in the midst of a busy life. We need to learn the replenishing power of the ancient Sabbath rest – a full 24-hour day in every week when we unwind and refuel. Most of all, we need to start discussing and implementing practical steps how we can better value time more than we value money.

As we turn away from summer vacations and back to full fall schedule of school, work, family, passions, etc., I want to admonish people to watch out for the cult(ure) of over-busyness. Watch out for being sold on a version of the American Dream that is really just a façade for a life of consuming, collecting and borrowing, which ushers you into the tyranny of busyness.

The Declaration of Independence summarized the American Dream well in a simple sentence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Speak of God, happiness and rest, a brand new study (May/June 2018) has found that people who attend church services and pray frequently tend to sleep better than their less religious counterparts.

Conducted by the University of Texas at San Antonio and published in Sleep Health: A Journal of the National Sleep Foundation, data from a large, nationwide survey of U.S. adults reveals that church attendance and the frequency of prayer are positively associated with a better overall sleep quality.

The study acknowledges that religion could "decrease psychological distress, substance abuse and stress exposure, which are all associated with sleep outcomes." And dare I say could aid us in overcoming the culture of busyness, which spurs on those consequences of negative well-being.

"This research is relatively unchartered territory that allows us to better understand the way in which religion and spirituality affect a person's health and overall quality of life," Christopher Ellison from the UTSA Department of Sociology told the Christian Post.

No surprise that the Bible states in Psalm 4:8: "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety."

Now, there's something to celebrate (and slow down to ponder) on Labor Day weekend, as well as every other weekend of the year!

For more about overcoming the cult(ure) of busyness, I highly recommend you check out the John Hopkins Health Review article titled "The Cult of Busy." I also recommend you check out the archives of subjects in my weekly syndicated health and fitness column, C-Force.