#50 Are You Keeping Busy?

Written By CUBIC

Are You Keeping Busy?

Picture this:  You’ve arrived early at your dentist’s office when you realize you forgot your phone at home.  You look around – there are no magazines, no TVs, nothing to do.

How do you feel?

Researchers from Chicago and Shanghai conducted three experiments on idleness, specifically the state of doing nothing. They tested whether study participants would choose to walk for 15 minutes, or disassemble and reassemble a bracelet, under different conditions.  Their paper, Idleness Aversion and the Need for Justifiable Busyness, asserts:

  • People dread idleness.

  • BUT they need a reason to be busy (even a spurious one), or else they will choose idleness.

  • People who are busy are usually happier than those who are idle.

While this study hasn’t yet been widely replicated, it’s worth pondering:  do people in your culture feel idleness aversion?  Do YOU?  And if so, would you rather avoid idleness, or become more comfortable with it?

CUBIC
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#51 Four Thousand Weeks
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