Email Service Notes 4th February (Tony)

Original –

Is busyness that important?
If someone asks “How are you?”, “Good” or “I’m fine, thank you” usually is the most standard answer. However, nowadays “I’m busy” or “Tired” is becoming popular and commonplace. Are people really that busy? Or is there any underlying value?
In some cases, we do have a lot in our plate from work and life, but according to the article “Why Americans Are So Impressed by Busyness”, it is also an interesting social and psychological phenomenon that “by telling others that we are busy and working all the time, we are implicitly suggesting that we are sought after, which enhances our perceived status.” (Silvia Bellezza, Neeru Paharia, and Anat Keinan, December 15, 2016) In other words, sometimes we are just hinting that “Look, I am in a high status because I am so busy at work and don’t have any leisure.”
This theory applies well in a mobile society where people believe that hard work leads to success, one can change their life by own efforts. In Chinese society, we emphasize on diligence and work ethic. We are proud of working hard and look down on lazybones. During my grandma’s generation, they have to work six days a week. Today, most office workers in Shanghai would agree to work overtime without extra paycheck, because they believe sacrificing more leisure time than others will definitely pay off one day.
In general, a person who is busy might be perceived as having a high social and economic status. However, I think it’s just meaningless to talk about it. Instead, it shows that you have no control of work-life balance and you don’t know how to appreciate the life. Sometimes busyness is just the delusional protection that people use to hide from thinking carefully about the truly important life choices.

Correction –

Is ‘busyness’ that important?
If someone asks “How are you?”, “Good” or “I’m fine, thank you” usually is the most standard answer. However, nowadays “I’m busy” or “Tired” is becoming popular and commonplace. Are people really that busy? Or is there some underlying issue?
In some cases, we do have a lot on our plate for work and life. But according to the article “Why Americans Are So Impressed by ‘Busyness”, it is also an interesting social and psychological phenomenon that “by telling others that we are busy and working all the time, we are implicitly suggesting that we are sought after, which enhances our perceived status.” (Silvia Bellezza, Neeru Paharia, and Anat Keinan, December 15, 2016) In other words, sometimes we are just dropping hints, like “Look, I have a high status because I am so busy at work and don’t have any leisure.”
This theory applies well in a mobile society where people believe that hard work leads to success. Someone can change their own life with a little effort. In Chinese society, we emphasize diligence and work ethic. We are proud of working hard and look down on lazy people. During my grandma’s generation, they had to work six days a week. Today, most office workers in Shanghai would agree to work overtime without overtime pay, because they believe sacrificing more leisure time than others will definitely pay off one day.
In general, a person who is busy might be perceived as having a high socio-economic status. However, I think it’s just meaningless to talk about it. Instead, it shows that you have no control of work-life balance and you don’t know how to appreciate life. Sometimes ‘busyness’ is just the delusional protection that people use to hide from thinking carefully about the truly important life choices.