A brief summary of how our society has reached the point where being busy is valued so much that it interferes with the simple act of living. This talk was presented at Convox 2015.

1. The Why of Busyness
Pravin Mahajan

2. Last Year
Sticker Shock: What is Life Really Worth?
• Lifetime value of human = $872K
• Thomas Piketty R > G
• The paradox of value
• Mullet to genius: Jason Padgett
• Moments not metrics

3. So, Now About My Moments
• Day = 24 hours
• Average Work = 11 hours
• Commute = 0.5 hour
• Sleep = 8 hours
• I offer 81% of me to my work so I could try to
live on my own terms 19% of the time

4. My Ancestor, 5000 Years Ago
• Day = Still 24 hours
• Average Work = 0 hours
• Commute = 0 hour
• Sleep = 10 hours
• She offered 100% of her so she could try to live
on her own terms 100% of the time

5. Why Am I Talking About My Busyness
• Changed Circumstances at Home and Work
• Distribution of Time
• Perception of Time
• How I Got to Creating This Talk

6. John Maynard Keynes
• Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren
(circa 1931)
– Economy would grow 7 fold in a century
– 3 hours of work per day (15 hour week)
• Basis = Clock begins to measure labor (~1750)
– Hours become financially quantified
• So how did Keynes measure up?
– Other economists analyze with their theories

7. Self-realization Hypothesis
• Edmund Phelps, Columbia
– Work is the most attainable self-realization in
modern societies
– Busyness is existential reassurance
• Richard Freeman, Harvard
– Hard work is the only way forward
– So much to learn and improve, no point living in
Eden
– Taking time for self = weakness

8. Money is Infinite, Not So for Time
• Gary Becker (1965)
– People don’t trade leisure for work
– When paid more to work, tend to work longer
– Insatiability syndrome (Got iPad?)
– Rising value of work-time puts pressure on all time
• Staffan Linder (1970)
– Concept of “simultaneous consumption” and the
“harried leisure class”
– Leisure time would feel less leisurely for those best
placed to enjoy it

9. Money is Infinite, Not So for Time
• Yuppie Kvetching
– Daniel Hamermesh (Austin) & Jungmin Lee (Seoul)
– Winner take all society (achievement not affiliation)
– Time Poor Haves and Time Rich Have-Nots
• Less mechanical jobs, more creative
– Hard to measure → First-in, Last-out gets the raise
– Long hours premium: Working mothers hardest hit

10. Anecdotes from Our Times
• Endless possibilities by a simple internet
connection….pleasures are fleeting
• Website >250ms, Google
• Video >5secs
• Email response within 24 hours
• Take-away coffee, At-desk lunch, Multi-task
• Experiences now calculated in milliseconds

11. Brigid Schulte
Author “Overwhelmed”
• Leisure was a badge of honor (19th century)
• Busyness is badge of honor (Today)
• Life: More expensive, wages failing to keep up
• Mental tape-loop phenomenon
– Not so much about how many things done
– It’s how much time spent thinking of things to do

12. A Ray of Light
• John Robinson, Father Time
– American Time Use Survey pioneer
– Consistent insistence = perilous
– Stop that tape, be mindful, but don’t make it a
checklist
• History: Greatest works of art, invention and
philosophy were created during leisure time
– Neuroscience backs this

13. Sorry, no questions!
Need to get back to
my day job 
pravinmahajan@yahoo.com