Why am I busy all day but my life never changes?

Rabbi Landau explains that people confuse urgent with important. “Urgent only means it’s yelling now. Important means it actually builds your life. Those are not the same thing.”

When the two get mixed up, a person lives reactively. This happened, that happened, the phone rang, a problem came up, pressure hit, “and the whole day becomes one long emergency room.” You spend your life putting out fires, and then you wonder why you are exhausted all day while your life never changes.

He points to the words of King Solomon: “Machshevos charutz ach l’mosar, v’chol atz ach l’machsor.” As Rabbi Landau renders it, “The one who thinks builds. The one who rushes loses.” Busy all day, with no progress: “That’s the trap.”

Also answered in this teaching

What is the difference between urgent and important?

Rabbi Landau teaches that urgent only tells you that something is loud right now, while important is what actually builds your life. A day run by the loud things fills up with noise, and nothing moves forward.

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

People confuse what is loud right now with what actually changes their life, so they are always reacting and never building.

Fear, vulnerability, or tension

The reactive person spends his life putting out fires. He is exhausted all day, yet his life stays the same.

Underlying need or longing

Why do the important things keep getting pushed off?

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that the important things, like fixed times for Torah study, real attention in prayer, or a calm talk with your son, do not shout. Because they stay quiet, they get pushed off to tomorrow again and again.

Deepest human truth

King Solomon’s verse describes two paths: the one who thinks and plans comes to plenty, and the one who rushes comes to lack. Rabbi Landau notes in the book that the verse does not criticize the lazy man but the one who rushes. Being busy does not always mean really working.

More questions from this teaching

• What does King Solomon mean that the one who rushes comes only to lack?