Busy life syndrome: symptoms, causes and what to do to overcome it

Subjects who show the syndrome of busy life have the need to be continuously doing things, to be productive and not to allow yourself to get bored.

In today's society, not doing anything or having time for oneself does not seem to be good, it is not well seen to be bored and people avoid this feeling. For this reason we see subjects who perform more than one task at a time or try to fill the time to be more productive, because if they don't, they feel bad about "wasting time".

In this article you will know what the busy life syndrome consists of, what causes and consequences are linked to it and how to deal with it in order to reduce it and improve quality of life.

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What is busy life syndrome?

Nowadays, we lead a frenetic pace of life in which we are required to be the best and we are taught to be always busy to be productive and attend to all kinds of work, family, self care etc The busy life syndrome is an affectation observed in a large number of people who

they feel the constant need to have to do something, of not being able to stop or rest, of being continuously hyperstimulated.

This syndrome does not appear officially in the diagnostic manuals of Psychology, but the results obtained in recent studies have marked the need to keep it in mind and work on it.

We see this need for constant activity in the different areas that make up the life of the individual, being very frequent in the work context. Subjects who experience it work excessively, they show a tendency to carry out more than one task at a time, without taking a moment of rest.. Subjects with busy life syndrome never stop and will even try to do more than one activity at a time, for example eating while working.

In the same way, we also observe it at different ages, as we have said it is a way of life that we learn, although it also shows a certain genetic predisposition, being habitual that from a very young age he is inculcated to always have to be doing something and that getting bored is not Okay. We will see how they are children who are continuously doing activities, always being busy.

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Causes and predisposing factors to busy life syndrome

A cause linked to the busy life syndrome is the type of society in which we live; we are constantly asked to be doing something and the idea is spread that being bored or not doing something is synonymous with failure. The fast pace we have, wanting things instantly, and the fact that we have fewer hours than we need to reaching all the goals we set ourselves, does not allow us to have a breathing time of dedication to ourselves, or simply not doing nothing.

On the other hand, this desire to be constantly busy and productive is also interpreted as a way to feel better about ourselves, of being functional and doing something useful. It is a way to protect our ego from believing our action is necessary and to feel more active and with greater vitality.

Thus, some guys can't stand boredom and they will do anything to feel continuously productive and effective.

Also, always staying active either mentally or physically keeps our mind busy thus reducing the possibility of thinking about other aspects that overwhelm us. If we are distracted and focus our attention on something external, on a task, that does not allows us to have time to spend getting to know each other or being aware of and facing our concerns. It is good to be distracted in order to disconnect, but we cannot always live apart from what we feel and disconnected from ourselves.

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Consequences and effects of the syndrome

It has been proven that hyperstimulated and overworked subjects may show problems in some of their cognitive functions, mainly affecting memory capacity. It is normal that we observe some failures in our memory; it is not a perfect mechanism, and as such we cannot pretend that it always works well. In the same way, with the passage of time, memory can be diminished due to an aging process, observing slight affectations or forgetfulness that we consider normal.

But we cannot assess as normal that these memory problems occur regularly in young people. In this case, the problem is not due to an aging of our brain, but is related to the constant excessive stimulation to which we are subjected.

Carrying out multitasking, having attention in different foci, makes it difficult for us to codify, process and store well the information we receive from abroad, making it impossible or complicating its I remember.

This difficulty in memory has been verified in different studies, reaching the conclusion that an excess of information or dividing our attention in many tasks generates more forgetfulness, not being able to remember information as basic as what we ate today or what the movie we saw yesterday was about.

This multitasking behavior, of wanting to do more than one thing at a time, we see more frequently in the workplace, and contrary to our purpose of wanting to be more productive, ends up exhausting us and generating the state that in psychology is known as burnout. Wanting to accomplish more than we can encompass can produce in us a sense of lack of control at work and not reaching all our goals, causing frustration and discomfort.

In addition, as we have already seen, not wanting to face or know our worries, thoughts or feelings, leads us to act almost like machines, losing the most human part of feeling. We cannot live continuously away from ourselves, since sooner or later we will have to face it and the impact will be much worse. Knowing yourself helps you face life and solve the different problems that may arise in a more functional and effective way.

So this constantly busy lifestyle It is a risk factor for both physical and mental health effects.. In order to do all the tasks that have been proposed and to be always busy, we forget to satisfy the basic needs such as sleeping a minimum of 7 hours, eating slowly and eating a diet that provides us with the nutrients fundamental; we can also observe an increased risk of consuming substances such as tobacco.

The personality that stands out for presenting the characteristics of this syndrome is the type A behavior pattern., raised by Meyer Friedman and Raymond Roseman, described in subjects who live by and for work, very competitive, impatient and hostile and who show a predisposition to develop diseases coronary.

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How to decrease busy life syndrome

Now that we know better what the busy life syndrome consists of, we will go on to consider how to deal with it in order to reduce it. Given the risk that it entails and the effects that it can entail, it is necessary to carry out an intervention to put a stop to our excess of activity and our frenetic life.

In general terms, the strategies or techniques used to improve our state will consist of establishing a healthy routine that allows us time to rest.

1. allow yourself to do nothing

This is a very important point to fulfill if we want to reduce this syndrome. We should set ourselves a time off from doing nothing and just resting.. This seems like a very simple exercise, but for subjects with this affectation it can be very difficult, since it goes against what they believe or are used to doing.

By doing nothing we mean not activating our mind, but on the contrary, getting it to relax. Allow yourself to be bored, life is not about always being productive.

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2. Have a good sleeping and eating routine

The eating and sleeping habits of individuals with this type of syndrome are not adequate, and in On many occasions, they simply do not exist, since they eat or rest when they can or simply do not. do.

There must be time for everything, to work, to rest and above all to satisfy our vital needs that allow us to stay alive; if we neglect them we are harming ourselves, because sooner or later our body will say enough is enough and will stop function well, resulting in an affectation that we could have avoided and forcing us to stop for more weather.

Having the purpose of improving does not work, create a schedule and write it down to make it easier for you to follow. When you eat, do nothing else and dedicate some time to this function, in the same way try to establish what menu you will have each day to be able to follow a balanced diet. The moment before going to bed, stop doing anything that is related to work, do not take the phone or any other electronic device, just relax so your body prepares for sleep.

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3. Sports practice

Playing sports will also help you to disconnect from work, from tasks and dedicate time to yourself. It also reduces body tension and stress, it is linked to the increase in endorphins that have the function of reducing the sensation of pain. On the other hand, it is a healthy habit that allows you to maintain good physical health and reduce the risk of getting sick.

4. set limits

Feeling productive is good and makes us feel good, but we must know how far we can go and where our limits are; we cannot say yes to everything, since it is impossible to be in more than one place at the same time or perform different tasks correctly. Knowing how to say no is not easy and as such we have to practice and "force" ourselves to do it, because it will be the only way to learn.