BUSY LIFE IN AMERICA BUSY LIFE AS A

BUSY LIFE IN AMERICA: BUSY LIFE AS A STATUS SYMBOL. MELISSA BINYON SOCIOLOGY 1020

TABLE OF CONTENTS • Introduction • Busy life as a status symbol with chart • Technology and the busy life status symbol • How has busyness changed chart • Conclusion • References

INTRODUCTION I know a little bit about being busy and feeling like I have no time. I don’t see it as a status symbol, but many people in society do see it as a status symbol. I work full-time and attend college, half the time I feel like a chicken with it’s head cut off. Unlike me, however some enjoy the busyness and see it as a status symbol. To some the busier you are the more money you make and that raises your economic status. Society thinks that if you are idle for to long you may be considered to be lazy and not hard working. Also boredom can explain why society stays so busy.

BUSY LIFE AS A STATUS SYMBOL • People are competing over being busy. There is a sense that idle people becoming busier will also become happier. work week hours • With more leisure time, there is an increase in boredom. • People will create busyness when it doesn’t exist. • There is an idea of the busier you are the more fulfilled your life will be. • Technology has also made being busy easier. • People are wanting to impress others by always having something to do. They don’t want to post “doing nothing” on social media in fear for what others will like of 60 + Hours 50 -59 Hours 40 Hours Less than 40 Hours 41 -49 Hours

TECHNOLOGY AND THE BUSY LIFE STATUS SYMBOL • The internet is probably the number one form of technology that has made having a busy life easier. • There apps on cell phone that provide a better way of organizing the things that need to get done and by when. • It’s not just work keeping us busy. There a number of things that factor into what makes us busy or feel busy. • Facebook is not just for socializing but also gives another place for advertising. • Technology also makes working from home an option in today’s world. • Online shopping is big now a days. It always people to multitask and shop anywhere. • Email has made communication easier between businesses and their clients. Allowing for 24/7 contact with one another. • What we now as black Friday there is now a black Monday for online shopping.

60% 50% 40% HOW HAS FEELING BUSY OVER THE YEARS CHANGED This graph shows a significant drop in a ten year time frame of how many people feel like they are rushed or busy. 30% 20% 10% 0% 2004 2014 Series 1

CONCLUSION This project opened my eyes to how busy life is in America. I never thought that being busy was a status symbol. It is important for people to be busy in order to get the most out of life. It’s not just employment that is keeping society busy, people spend a lot of time on social media and engaging in hobbies that interest them. Technology has definitely plays a big part in the busyness of societies in America. Technology has created the ability to not just work at work it has allowed us to access work from any location. Generation after generation has seen an increase in societies busyness and we can only predict that it will continue to increase.

REFERENCES: • http: //www. dallasnews. com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140404 -insanely-busy-schedules-are-thenew-status-symbol. ece • https: //www. washingtonpost. com/news/on-leadership/wp/2014/09/02/the-average-work-week-isnow-47 -hours/ • http: //www. dailydot. com/via/busy-busy-busy/ • https: //www. nestlechoosewellness. com. au/your-wellbeing/why-being-busy-is-a-status-symbol/ • http: //www. economist. com/news/christmas-specials/21636612 -time-poverty-problem-partlyperception-and-partly-distribution-why