“Busyness” has become a status symbol!

3 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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In this monologue, Dan Novaes observes that modern society has turned constant busyness into a status symbol. He cites studies and 2025 surveys showing that people who appear always working are perceived as more important, while most workers feel they lack control over their time, spending large portions of the day in meetings, chats, and emails with little room for deep focus or rest. Novaes argues that busyness has become a performance: full calendars and nonstop notifications create guilt around slowing down. He warns that this perpetual proof of busyness erodes personal agency over time use. The true "flex" is not having the busiest schedule, but having a schedule filled with activities chosen deliberately.

Chapters

Have you noticed how almost everyone answers busy when you ask how they are? Around the world, busyness has quietly turned into a status symbol. Studies even show people rate someone who's always working as more important than someone with lots of free time. At the same time, surveys in 2025 say most workers don't feel in control of their time. They spend huge chunks of the day in meetings, chats and emails, with very little space for deep focus or actual rest. That's why so many people feel tired, even when they're technically just sitting at a desk. The strange part is this busyness is now something people perform. Calendars are full, notifications never stop, and slowing down can feel almost guilty, like you're falling behind. But long term, constantly proving how busy you are just proves one thing that you have no room to choose how you use your own time. In a culture that treats overload as a compliment, the real Flex isn't being the busiest person in the room. It's being one of the few who can say my time is full of things I chose on purpose.