The 'Busy' Trap

"I write in the morning, go for a long bike ride and run errands in the afternoon, and in the evening I see friends, read or watch a movie. This, it seems to me, is a sane and pleasant pace for a day. "

Summary: reflective thought helps creative work. Modern communications can interfere with time for reflection. Many of us are secretly anxious about the value of our work and need to convince ourselves of the worth of what we do through having a lot of tasks to tick off.

"I can’t help but wonder whether all this histrionic exhaustion isn’t a way of covering up the fact that most of what we do doesn’t matter."

This man is treading dangerously close to some deep truths about late-stage, debt-ravaged, finance-dominated western economies (and societies.)

This is why every time I return to the USA from Western Europe, I'm depressed for a few weeks. It seems that Western Europeans (UK excluded) have figured it out- they as a society have realized that an extra .05% GDP won't make that much of a difference at the end of the day. That's why at 4pm on a Thursday cafes are full, lunches aren't eaten in front of the computer and people actually go on vacation for more than a week!