The Difference between being Busy and Productive

With the movement of time and the development of human civilization, I think it has become pertinent to know that there is a difference between being busy and being productive. In this current time and event, it is quite easy to mistake one for the other. Now the line of a lot to do with so many tasks, a filled-up-to-do list where every minute of your time is allocated towards one thing or another. Now, if one is not overwhelmed, it feels like they are not doing enough.

_{Image by Janet Gooch from Pixabay}

However, there is a key difference between being busy and being productive. One requires your attention but yields to no progress, while the other is a gradual progress in whatever you are doing. It is like being busy on your phone, answering calls, listening to songs, watching videos, and playing games. All these are keeping you busy, but they do not amount to anything progressive when they are done. Compared to stuff like reading, writing, taking action on your goals and dreams, and seeing that gradual growth that comes with these things. These are productive activities that have something to teach you in return. An easy way I tend to distinguish between the two is by asking yourself what you learn from the activity, and which one was a form of leisure that helps to while away time.

The concept of being busy also comes in the form of doing something you do not love doing. This is why we adults can get caught up in the hook of doing jobs we do not love. We get busy with the need to foot the bills that come with being a living human being. Making it hard for us to focus on our dreams and passions, especially when we have to worry about what we will eat and how we will survive the inflationary economy. Things like this make it easy for people to get stuck in jobs they do not enjoy doing.

The corporation is filled with people who are not working on what they love but are working on how to survive. This need to survive is what has kept me busy with the job, and as time flies, it becomes a whole lot more difficult to quit. You're telling yourself it is for a short while, but as life moves on, it has become a part of life. This is what being busy can get you into. A while passes, and before you know it, it is a decade or more time passes down to retirement.

What makes it even more challenging for our time is the inflation of the global economy, whereby the cost of goods and services is more expensive than in the economy in which our parents worked. The worst is the standard of living, which is ever-increasing. No wonder financial gurus always advise one should invest their money in order to beat inflation, because if you keep working on the same paycheck, over the years, the same paycheck drops in value faster than you expect.

Well, I say this because I now know what it is like to give up your dream or hold off for a while. I have always wanted to improve as a chess player and travel the world playing chess. But over time, and now as an adult, I have come to realize that these dreams require financing, and that is not all, being an adult also requires financing. Things like these are what can keep one busy while forsaking productivity for the need to survive.

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_{I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.}

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Thanks For Reading!