Living With a Sense of Urgency

On the surface, so many of us feel our lives are too busy. We’re often stressed and overwhelmed and can’t find the time in our day for all the things we want to do.

But on the other hand, we’ve never had more automation, convenience, and collective wealth than we do now. And according to time use surveys published in OurWorldInData.org, we’re working fewer hours and enjoying more leisure time than ever before. A trend that has been decades in the making.

What explains this divergence between our perception of increasing busyness and the facts which suggest a gentler pace of life?

My Theory of Ease

My theory is this: for many people (not all) life has gotten objectively easier, but we don’t feel the benefits because at the very same time, the smartphone revolution has connected us at nearly every hour of the day with a constant deluge of low-level demands.

The demands are subtle, but collectively powerful. 

For example, going on vacation used to be a simple thing, a chance to get away and enjoy some scenic time away from work. But now, we’re exposed to hundreds of possibilities about how great a vacation could be. Planning this “dream” vacation, documenting it on social media, and keeping up with your friends doing the same, has become another type of work we do.

The same goes for interior design, fashion, various hobbies, political developments, sports news, and whatever else you might be into. 

On top of that, we “have to” read dozens of reviews before we buy a product, research the best restaurants before going out, and spend countless hours “exploring our options” before making relatively low stakes decisions.

Are You Entertained?

I don’t know the entire effects of this radical change in how we spend our time, but when I look around, I don’t sense it’s good.

People feel busy, they’re stressed— but what are they actually doing with their extra time? I think much of it is being absorbed by screens in a way that adds very little value to our lives. It’s essentially a form of entertainment by another name.

This kind of behavior is only possible in a world of relative peace, prosperity, and comfort. A world where “wasting time” doesn’t lead to catastrophic results. A world where there is very little sense of urgency in how we use our time.

The Fuel of Life

On one hand, it’s amazing that we’ve reached this place. Kudos to us for creating a country so wealthy that the average person can spend hours and hours a day watching tv and messing around on their phones. But is this really human flourishing? We need to harness this wealth for something greater than leisure.

From personal experience, and observing the lives of great men and women I’ve encountered in biographies, it seems clear to me that humans can’t flourish without a certain sense of healthy urgency in their lives. In a similar way that the load of an arch actually strengthens the structure, humans appear to be stronger (and happier) when they bear responsibilities, take on challenges, and generally live with a sense of purpose.

For this sense of purpose to be beneficial, it can’t just be an extra or an add-on to your life. It has to drive you. The idea of not fulfilling your purpose has to be fuel for going faster and further than you ever would have done without the added pressure. We need some real stress in our life to push out the fake stress that can result from countless hours using our smartphones.

Add a Spring to Your Step

The fact is, humans will always fill their time with something. And no matter what we fill it with, we’ll make a big deal out of certain things and feel stressed and worried about others. 

It’s only when we have big audacious goals, frightening deadlines, and real skin in the game that we can prioritize our lives in such a way that what is most important holds our attention and what is trivial gets pushed aside.

The real weight of these responsibilities will bring remarkable clarity to our lives. That clarity will in turn add a spring to our step, urgency to our action, and a purpose to our existence. This is the life we were meant to live.

Do Hard Things

Is your life lacking urgency? Have you not found what you were looking for in a life of ease and comfort? Has it backfired and left you more stressed and anxious than ever before?

You can turn all that around today. Decide what impact you want to leave in your family, among your friends, in your community, and in the broader world, and create a plan to go straight after those goals.

The bigger these goals, the better. Don’t wait for the perfect time to get started or until you feel ready. Make real commitments that can’t be wiggled out of. Put some skin in the game so that the prospect of failure frightens you, and the hope of success compels you.

Don’t fall for the fools game of comfort-seeking and ease. Do hard things for the sake of others, and find the happiness you deeply desire.