WHY YOU FEEL BUSY ALL THE TIME (ALTHOUGH YOU ARE NOT)

“Overwhelmed? It can seem like we’re busier than ever, but that’s not quite true, says Oliver Burkeman, who has been exploring the topic in a new series for BBC Radio 4.”

By: Oliver Burkeman

Published: 12 September 2016, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160909-why-you-feel-busy-all-the-time-when-youre-actually-not

Level of Difficulty: **

BEFORE YOU READ

Watch the following videos, make a few notes and have a think about the problems presented

·         The Disease of Being Busy and How It Affects Us, Tessitura’s Innovator Series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWSUfWvDz6s

·         I am too busy! How can we get out of the busyness trap? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2014/dec/31/too-busy-busyness-trap

QUESTIONS

1.       Read the first two paragraphs of the text and decide whether the following statements are true or false:

·         People in the modern world are busier than they think

·         People in the modern world feel very busy

·         People in the modern world have too much to do

·         People in the modern world are inundated with work

·         People work the same way people in the past did

·         People in the modern world think they are neglecting their kids

2.       Read the paragraph beginning “What’s going on?” Which of the following sentences could be placed at the end of this paragraph?

·         In short, both the state of the economy and the limits set to employment in the modern world alter people’s perspectives

·         In short both changing attitudes to time and the nature of work in the modern world alter people’s perspectives

·         In short, both the value of time and labor in the modern world alter people’s perspectives.

·         In short, both rising incomes and the lack of physically punishing labor alter people’s perspectives

3.       We understand from the text that there is / there isn’t no discernable limit to the amount of work that can be done in a day. The reason for this is the transformation of work to …………..

4.       Why does time pressure negatively impact the quality of performance and less empathy?

5.       The example of Maria Popova’s hobby is given as an example to prove that….

6.       What proof does the writer offer to the contention that our attitude to work is completely nonsensical?

7.       Why is the locksmith’s story ironical? Use your own words.

8.       How should we measure our success?

9.       What does “this” refer to in the sentence “To put it mildly, this makes no sense.”?

WRITING TASK

Use the information in the text and the videos to write about busyness trap; focus on both the causes and the solutions .

WHY YOU FEEL BUSY ALL THE TIME (ALTHOUGH YOU ARE NOT) KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES

This text focuses on a very common problem in the modern world that we should all think about because it prevents us from getting the most out of life: the busyness trap. The beauty is that it is a relatively simple text which can be easily understood and discussed. The writing task requires students to focus both on the problem itself and the solutions, which to me, seems more logical.

1.       F, T, F,F, F, T

2.       The second

3.       There is (There isn’t a limit but we cannot use a double negative), knowledge work

4.       Because feelings of scarcity, whether money or time, prey on the mind, thereby impairing decision making.

5.       The busy feeling has spread to infect our leisure time

6.        Possible answer: the fact that Freedom not to work was the ultimate symbol of wealth, social achievement and superiority in the past and that now busyness has become the indicator of high status

7.       Possible answer: People thought he deserved to be tipped when he was inexperienced and took longer to complete a task but not when he grew better at it and worked faster

8.       According to the results we achieve

9.       Living frenetic lives because it makes us feel good about ourselves