We’re all guilty of uttering a busy-brag at some point. “My day was so packed that I forgot to eat lunch,” “I only got through a quarter of my massive to-do list,” “I stayed up until midnight answering emails,” etc. A recent Science of Us article explains why it’s time to stop using busyness as way of building ourselves up.
First, in today’s unhealthy work until you can’t work anymore culture, you’re not the only person who’s busy, and second, boasting that you’ve got no time to spare may send the message that you lack time-management skills. Even worse, in situations where you’re being asked to pitch in on a project at work, responding that you’re too busy can send the message “that you just don’t care about making time to help out the team,” Cari Romm wrote for Science of Us.
Referencing a recent column in the BBC by Lennox Morrison, Romm writes that using busyness to mark your territory in the office doesn’t work anymore. When everyone is at capacity, boasting about it no longer makes people think that you have an amazing worth ethic. Instead, when you brag, “you’re more likely to be seen as inefficient and rude,” Lennox wrote. Remember that next time you’re tempted to let a busy-brag slip.
Read more on Science of Us.
Originally published at journal.thriveglobal.com