Engoo
(Updated )
“Busy” is a popular English word — but not in the way that many learners think.
For example, “busy” has become a common response to “How are you?” (“I’m doing well! Just busy studying for my exams”). Research has even found telling people about what keeps you busy has been common in Christmas greeting cards.
But if you use this word to tell a coworker why you can’t take their call or your boss why you can’t attend a meeting, what you’re really saying, according to the BBC, is “‘I'm not very good at prioritising my time and, at the moment, you’re not a priority at all.”
So it’s safer to avoid using the word “busy.” It’s blunt and often just not the right word. Below are 10 English expressions that’ll do the job much better.
Imagine someone knocking on your office door while you’re having a meeting. Or imagine getting a call while you’re driving to work. In either case, you can say you were “preoccupied,” because you were already (“pre-”) occupied (busy doing something).
Think of each task you need to work on as a rope. Each time you take on a new task, another rope is tied around you until you’re all “tied up” and not free to work on anything else.
If your plate is full, there’s no room for you to put more food on it. In the context of life, this means you can’t take any more work.
“Juggling” takes a lot of energy and focus and it’s easy to make mistakes. So if you’re busy with a lot of things, it can feel like you’re “juggling” them.
“Bandwidth” is a technical term that has become a popular way to tell someone you don’t have the time for something.
If you only have a little butter to spread on a piece of toast, it’ll become a very thin layer of butter. So if you’re “spread thin,” it means you’re spreading your limited time and energy among a lot of tasks.
It’s easy to get stuck in a swamp or even sink into one! If you’re “swamped” with work, it’s like you’re stuck in a pile of work or sinking into it.
Imagine you’re buried in piles and piles of work and you can’t escape.
People also say “I’m drowning (in work)” or “I’m snowed under (with work).”
Think of a pile of work that is stacked all the way up to your ears and giving you anxiety.
You can use this one for many situations. For example, you can be up to your ears in laundry (if you haven’t washed your clothes in a while) or debt (if there’s a lot you need to pay off).
“Hectic” means that there are a lot of things going on that are difficult to control. Imagine all your tasks frantically flying around you, and you have the right idea.
Keep in mind you can’t say “I’m hectic.” “Hectic” describes a schedule, your life, and things in your life. It can also describe periods of time, such as a day (“it’s been a hectic day”) and a week (“this week has been hectic”). But hectic never describes people.
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