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A review by ryangoodyear
Busy: How to Thrive in a World of Too Much by Tony Crabbe
4.0
This book attacks the modern status-quo need for busyness, especially aiming at those who take pride in being busy and fool themselves into thinking that their busyness is a fruitful approach.
The first 1/3rd resonated with me with its focused message that I haven't read elsewhere. The middle 1/3rd descended at times into rehashing material that has been more thoroughly explored in other contemporary Pop-Sci books. Not the author's fault that I've read those books--I'm just personally burnt out on references to "Thinking Fast And Slow." The last 1/3rd was as good as the first 1/3rd.
The author does a B+ job at avoiding the maddeningly-popular stylistic trope of using his experience in writing the book as a circular argument to prove or discuss the book's subject material.
My gems:
--“We trust [our friends] to deal with the scraps of us: serving them only what’s left of us after we’ve spent all our energy, creativity, and focus in dopamine-fueled activity binges.”
--“Busy is the easy option. We are busy because we don’t make the tough choices. We allow the world and our inbox to set our agenda rather than think for ourselves.”
--“In being busy we get to feel productive while procrastinating”
--“Busy is aspirational. So even if we try to make it sound like a moan, we are building our brand.”
--"When everyone is so overwhelmed, the biggest scarcity is attention.”
--"The opposite of busy in today’s world is sustained, focused attention.”
--“If I asked you why you are busy, you would be able to give all kinds of rational explanations. You might describe the state of the economy or the fact that your business is short on staff at present, you might describe a demanding manager or a demanding project, or you might explain your commitment to the children’s extracurricular activities. The point is, you will have a justification for your busyness. You will have a story you tell yourself and others. All I ask from you at present is to accept the possibility that some of your busyness has come from dumb, irrational and mindless choices.”
--“There is a huge difference between deep focus on an important activity and hopscotching busyness.”
--"A small amount of dopamine is released when we switch, helping us feel potent, effective, and efficient. The more we bounce between [things], the more effective we feel. As the velocity of the demands increase, so does our dopamine. We have to learn not to mistake the buzz we get from multitasking for a rightly earned sense of effectiveness. This buzz perpetuates our illusion of efficiency; we delude ourselves into mistaking our ability to machine-gun disconnected tasks for working well.”
“...rather than do the big work that will make a difference, we turn on the email and pass the time.”
--Horizon One work is day-to-day busy work. Adrenaline-fueled payoff. Horizon Two work yields change after 3-6 month of concrete initiatives and is very important to spend our time here. Horizon Three has emotional appeal of long-term dreams
--"Before starting a work day, we are cold, rational, and have emotional distance. Small and urgent interruptions send us spiraling away from our main purpose.”
--"Overinvest your time and attention in your 15 [closest people]...any increase in the quality of these relationships will be a direct increase in your overall life satisfaction.”
--“...[you will be] shocked by how quickly a child will drag you into joy if you don’t pause them.” Being present around children is not as hard as it may seem, as their requests are 'kid-sized' rather than 'adult-sized'
--“Busyness quiets and dulls the mind.”
--"impact bias” - we massively overestimate the impact things will have on us, and the duration of that impact
--“Materialism steps into the breach when we haven’t worked out what our values are”
--"Busyness is a gentle poison whose effects will be seen, not in a year, but over a decade as the telltale cancers take hold.”
--unhealthy triangle of busyness leads to disconnect and then filling resulting feelings of emptiness with more busyness
--"We enjoy things more when we commit and stop keeping our options open.”
--Dead time is important to synthesize new ideas into your own.
--"Manage your attention instead of your time."
The first 1/3rd resonated with me with its focused message that I haven't read elsewhere. The middle 1/3rd descended at times into rehashing material that has been more thoroughly explored in other contemporary Pop-Sci books. Not the author's fault that I've read those books--I'm just personally burnt out on references to "Thinking Fast And Slow." The last 1/3rd was as good as the first 1/3rd.
The author does a B+ job at avoiding the maddeningly-popular stylistic trope of using his experience in writing the book as a circular argument to prove or discuss the book's subject material.
My gems:
--“We trust [our friends] to deal with the scraps of us: serving them only what’s left of us after we’ve spent all our energy, creativity, and focus in dopamine-fueled activity binges.”
--“Busy is the easy option. We are busy because we don’t make the tough choices. We allow the world and our inbox to set our agenda rather than think for ourselves.”
--“In being busy we get to feel productive while procrastinating”
--“Busy is aspirational. So even if we try to make it sound like a moan, we are building our brand.”
--"When everyone is so overwhelmed, the biggest scarcity is attention.”
--"The opposite of busy in today’s world is sustained, focused attention.”
--“If I asked you why you are busy, you would be able to give all kinds of rational explanations. You might describe the state of the economy or the fact that your business is short on staff at present, you might describe a demanding manager or a demanding project, or you might explain your commitment to the children’s extracurricular activities. The point is, you will have a justification for your busyness. You will have a story you tell yourself and others. All I ask from you at present is to accept the possibility that some of your busyness has come from dumb, irrational and mindless choices.”
--“There is a huge difference between deep focus on an important activity and hopscotching busyness.”
--"A small amount of dopamine is released when we switch, helping us feel potent, effective, and efficient. The more we bounce between [things], the more effective we feel. As the velocity of the demands increase, so does our dopamine. We have to learn not to mistake the buzz we get from multitasking for a rightly earned sense of effectiveness. This buzz perpetuates our illusion of efficiency; we delude ourselves into mistaking our ability to machine-gun disconnected tasks for working well.”
“...rather than do the big work that will make a difference, we turn on the email and pass the time.”
--Horizon One work is day-to-day busy work. Adrenaline-fueled payoff. Horizon Two work yields change after 3-6 month of concrete initiatives and is very important to spend our time here. Horizon Three has emotional appeal of long-term dreams
--"Before starting a work day, we are cold, rational, and have emotional distance. Small and urgent interruptions send us spiraling away from our main purpose.”
--"Overinvest your time and attention in your 15 [closest people]...any increase in the quality of these relationships will be a direct increase in your overall life satisfaction.”
--“...[you will be] shocked by how quickly a child will drag you into joy if you don’t pause them.” Being present around children is not as hard as it may seem, as their requests are 'kid-sized' rather than 'adult-sized'
--“Busyness quiets and dulls the mind.”
--"impact bias” - we massively overestimate the impact things will have on us, and the duration of that impact
--“Materialism steps into the breach when we haven’t worked out what our values are”
--"Busyness is a gentle poison whose effects will be seen, not in a year, but over a decade as the telltale cancers take hold.”
--unhealthy triangle of busyness leads to disconnect and then filling resulting feelings of emptiness with more busyness
--"We enjoy things more when we commit and stop keeping our options open.”
--Dead time is important to synthesize new ideas into your own.
--"Manage your attention instead of your time."