Always in a Hurry Says Something About the Person

Sometimes, we are always in a hurry because of the need to feel important.

Time is relative. Einstein told us so. If we are always in a hurry, it might be more than just not having enough time. It could be how we view time.

What Always in a Hurry Might Mean for Some

Bad times seem to linger and good times fly. Twenty years sounds like a long time. That is until we wake up one morning and wonder where those years went. Is being always in a hurry just our imagination? It is that same imagination that demands us to be busy. We feel more important when we are.

There are huge implications for productivity. Needing to feel busy is like binge eating. We continue eating even when it is no longer satisfying hunger. We continue working even when it is no longer productive. Busy work fills our time.

Attitudes Towards Time Shaping How Much Time People Have

The article “Why is Everyone So Busy?” (The Economist, December 20, 2014 edition) details how about people’s attitudes towards time shape their feelings about how much they have. Money encourages us to worry about time. The more we make the more we tend to worry.

Talking and thinking about money increases our unhappiness too. We are always in a hurry and are always unhappy about it. “A fast pace leaves most people feeling rushed.” We who are always in a hurry infect the rest.

The Marketplace and Media Shaping How Much Time People Have

The vast array of goods and services encourages us to feel short on time. We want more. From the sales side, they tell us we need more, should have more. We can fill our wants quicker too. Impatience takes over when we cannot. In the end, we’re always in a hurry to fill them.

We receive more communications. It is easier to connect and do things with colleagues, friends and families. “When there are so many ways to fill one’s time, it is only natural to crave more of it.”

Cassie Mogilner (Wharton University of Pennsylvania) found that “You’ll Feel Less Rushed If You Give Time Away” (Harvard Business Review, September 2012 edition). Why, if this was only about time? We feel better about time when we freely use it to help others. We feel like we have more of it.

Do we have time to think differently about our time though?