Do we always need to be busy? ✍️

06 May, 2025

This morning, as I left for work, I did what I always do: put on my headphones and reach for something to listen to.

Another podcast? Or the audiobook that is keeping me busy for weeks?

I'm not sure whether it was due to my 2-hour run on Sunday, where I listened to both, but I didn't choose anything. Instead, I thought, Do I always need to listen to something?

I went off to work in silence. No voices in my ears, no “value-added” content.
Just the sound of my old car and my own thoughts. I liked that I wasn't forced to listen to something, but in a way, it also felt strange. Almost like I was wasting time.

But why?

We live in an age that celebrates optimisation. Every minute can, and should, be used better. There's an overload of information and a million things to do, so advice is plentiful on how to spend your time.

• Meditate while brushing your teeth.
• Learn a language while commuting.
• Listen to a podcast while cleaning, running, or a quick shower.
• Do push-ups while waiting for the microwave to finish

There is no harm in all these things, and they can provide some benefits and enjoyment, but often I feel that we need to do them to achieve anything. You need to meditate for a healthy mind. You need to keep learning to stay sharp at an older age. You need to listen to podcasts to follow or drive conversations with others. You need to exercise to stay fit.

It's almost like stillness is inefficient. Or even, doing nothing is inefficient.

Coincidentally, this morning, I came across an article on Jevons Paradox. Originally about energy use. It describes how making something more efficient doesn't reduce its usage, but actually increases it. Steam engines got better, and we burned more coal, not less.

We're doing the same thing with our time, attention and energy. Everything needs to be more efficient. Faster apps, smarter workflows, 2x playback speeds. But instead of using the extra time it would provide, we’re actually adding more.

Because listening at 2x speed, I can listen to twice as many podcasts, books, ...

More input. More productivity. More noise.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with listening, learning, or stacking habits. I do it all the time. And I often enjoy it.

But I’m starting to wonder if we’ve become too accustomed to optimising everything, to always being busy. Maybe it’s our brain telling us it needs more, but without any real pause, we’re just charging a ticking bomb.
One that eventually might go off.

What we may fail to see is that it’s draining us. Maybe even fueling a lot of the things we struggle with: focus, sleep, connection…

That silent ride this morning didn’t make me smarter or better informed. But it did create a bit of space again, to think, to notice, to just be.

I have a run planned tonight. And thinking about all this, I’ll go without headphones. Just me, my breath, and the world around me.

Thanks for reading!

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#2025 #2025-05 #article #blogging