Self-Control
Feeling Busy? That Could Be a Good Thing
A busy mindset may increase self-importance and self-control.
Posted October 3, 2019
Written with Kate McCauley.
Feeling busy? You’re not alone. Nearly half of Americans report they almost never feel they have enough time to do what they want. Feelings of being overly busy have been associated with all sorts of bad outcomes including increased stress, decreased well-being, and even rudeness. When busyness leads to feeling time pressure, you may even make worse decisions. Research has linked time pressure to worse medical decision-making, financial strategies, and food choices.
A paper on feeling busy by Jeehye Kim, Monica Wadhwa, and Amitava Chattopadhyay is thus a pleasant surprise—it provides evidence that feeling busy might have some good outcomes too. Specifically, it can bolster self-control and lead to better decisions.
But isn’t time pressure bad?
So what about all that evidence that time pressure leads to decreased self-control and worse decisions? Well, the authors reasoned, you can feel busy without feeling time-pressured. And whereas time pressure is generally negative, feeling busy may actually be a positive sign that you are important. Feeling important, they reasoned, may increase your self-control and improve decision-making.
How they tested it:
The researchers first tested their hypothesis that feeling busy could increase self-control by examining how a busy mindset affected food choices. To vary the levels of "busy-ness" people felt the researchers put up signs at cafeteria food stations, which said that the food was “good to go, for busy college students.” On days when the “busy” signs were present compared to when no signs were present, students were over 30% less likely to buy unhealthy foods.
Five follow-up studies replicated these results, using slightly different procedures to measure how a busy mindset affected other choices, like whether to do extra credit and how much money to invest. In one study, college students in one group were primed to be in a busy mindset by writing down three activities that “keep them busy.” Students in other groups wrote down three activities they were forced to do, that related to their social lives, or they did on campus. Compared to the other groups, the students who wrote about what keeps them busy were more likely to choose an extra credit task over a free day of class.
These findings suggest that feeling busy can improve self-control and decision-making beyond just food, so long as what keeps you busy is primarily work-related and not forced.
Why does feeling busy increase self-control? The importance of self-importance.
Two of the follow-up studies also tested the hypothesis that feeling busy increases self-control because it makes people feel important. For example, in one study people from across the United States answered seven questions about how important it is to keep busy. Then they were asked to imagine that they could either receive $100 instantly or a larger sum of money over time. When participants were in a busy mindset, they were more likely to wait for the larger sum of money — but only when they thought work ethic and being busy was important.
But there’s a limit: feeling time pressure
Lastly, remember that prior research has found that feeling intense time pressure can lead to stress and decreased self-control. So Kim and her colleagues' final study sought to understand the relationship between feeling busy, time pressure, and self-control.
One hundred nineteen people employed in the United States participated. To activate a busy mindset, some participants were told that Americans are busier than other developed countries and asked to write down three activities that kept them busy. All participants also answered questions about their self-importance (such as how much they feel indispensable and how valuable their life is) and how much time pressure they feel to complete their work over the next 24 hours. Finally, they completed a survey about how much of their income they would like to save for their future.
As predicted, compared to the other participants, those who had a busy mindset activated indicated they wanted to save a higher percentage of their earnings—an average of 27% savings compared to 18%. Self-importance mediated this effect, meaning that results supported the hypothesis that feeling busy increased feelings of self-importance, which in turn increased saving.
However, whereas a busy mindset increased saving, feeling time pressure decreased saving. When time pressure got high enough (around 15% above average), busy mindset no longer increased savings decisions.
Conclusions
In short: Feeling busy might be a good thing. These studies found that a busy mindset generally increased self-control and improved decision-making because it increased self-importance. So next time you are a bit overwhelmed with your busy schedule, consider taking a moment to realize this probably means you are important! And it may be a good time to go grocery shopping for healthy food or make some investment decisions.
Of course, this is not to say that you shouldn’t try to relax sometimes, too. Remember that feeling intense time pressure can have negative consequences like increasing anxiety, decreasing self-control, and causing worse decisions. If you’re feeling totally overwhelmed, consider cutting some obligations or giving yourself a bit more time. Perhaps you could delegate some work tasks, hire someone to cut the lawn, or simply accept that you may not complete everything on your to-do list for another week or two—because you are just so busy and important.
