I Feel Guilty When I’m Not Busy

by Rory Gardiner

Do you often feel as though you don’t have a minute to yourself? I am constantly trying to break down the list of things on my daily agenda, ranging from sending an email, or recording an album. The size of the task doesn’t matter, because I know that once the project is complete, I’ll move on to the next big milestone. With a never ending “To-Do” list, how will we ever be at peace, or satisfied, or generally relaxed?

If “busyness” enhances my happiness that maybe that is just my way of maintaining a positive emotional state. I think somewhere along the line, I developed a mindset that successful people are busy, and in order to be successful, I need to be busy as well. I work out of my home, so there is really no separation from a work environment to personal environment. On top of that, my smart phone is always in my pocket. I can never truly escape “work”.

Two reasons we feel the need to stay busy:

1. Busyness creates the illusion that we are laying the ground work for some day in the future when can finally chill out, and feel a sense of freedom. We need to shift our focus from achieving future happiness to taking in the good times right now.
2. We are seeking validation. A need to be busy in order to appear successful. This is just spinning our wheels. If we ever found the success we were looking for, we’d have no way of appreciating it.

Possible Solution:

Our working reality doesn’t have to be so painful that we can’t wait to escape it. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is your end goal? Wealth? Money leading to happiness only works if you’re already happy.
• What can you do today that will get you from A to B? If we pursue our passion, we can fill our days with work that fulfills us.

Taking consistent action every day that will lead to our goals, will keep us busy and fulfilled, but not in a stressful manner. We all have the same amount of hours in the day and we all have the same ability to make choices that will move us in the direction of our dreams. Our lives are the sum total of all the choices we’ve made up to this point. If you find yourself too busy to enjoy life, swap out the daily drudgery for things that fuel you, and eventually your new habits will take over your routine. All that “busy work” becomes everyday life that we can look back on and appreciate.

Rory Gardiner They say if you do what you love, you never have to work a day in your life.

Singer/Songwriter/Author/Entrepreneur/Comedian/Lactose Intolerant Rory Gardiner has seen the success of his compositions published and performed by other artists, as well as songs licensed and synched in TV advertisements airing daily throughout North America.

Rory has appeared on multiple CMT(Country Music Television) nationally broadcasted reality shows in Canada, and keeps a busy 100+ shows a year touring schedule.

Author of “Break Free: The Road Map for Building a Healthy Lifestyle & Breaking Bad Habits.” Using humor, parable and motivation, Rory outlines how the right small changes in a busy lifestyle can have a dramatic effect on how you look and feel.

Rory has recently released his first country music children’s record “Yee-Haw” on iTunes, influenced by becoming a parent himself. The album has already been awarded a “Parents Choice Award”, and Rory states “I can’t wait to see where this adventure takes us next!”

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