You need to be busy all the time. If you don't respond to requests to hang out with an "I'm busy, maybe later" answer, you're not keeping up with society's version of success and productivity. You're not fulfilling your role to improve and influence our community.

At least that's what I thought and at times still catch myself thinking.

Europe, various parts of Asia, and even some regions in America treat time and tasks differently than big city productivity powerhouses. For example, in France, most business only allow employees to work thirty-five hours a week in the office.

Like me, you might be asking why France does this.

There are a couple "pro" reasons and a few "con" reasons I've considered when trying to figure out exactly why countries in Europe put such a restrictive cap on employees in the office.

Some positives to consider is the decrease in stress and anxiety levels. One of the more obvious reasons why I think France limits the number of work hours for its' citizens is the fact that they have observed a correlation between a fast-paced, high-risk workplace with increased levels of stress and decreased level of mental and physical health.

A negative I've noticed about this tactic is, if French citizens wanted to earn more money to keep up with inflation in an already expensive city, they're about out of luck unless they wanted to pick up a side gig to earn a bit of extra cash.

All of these reasons lead to, in my opinion, one main mundane goal to achieve; each community, country, or society agrees to strive for and focus on various forms of ideas to govern specific lifestyles prioritized by generations.

I know that might have been difficult to understand, so let's break it down into something relatable.

How do you formulate your goals? Is it a combination of what you believe your friends and family expect from you alongside what you feel compelled to accomplish in order to stay relevant? Or, are you a free spirit, completely unaffected by what others think of you and just living life spontaneously, for the fun of it?

If you're like me, more times than not I tend to always find myself trying to conform to society's ideas of what success means and molding my life. This includes what I choose to do with my time and the goals I dedicate my energy to pursuing and accomplishing. If you think about it, most of our actions are governed towards the process of achieving a goal and the eventual accomplishment or end goal of what we believe society wants from us.

This isn't necessarily a negative influence that society has over every single one of our individual lifestyles and decisions, but it's always a good thing to know, understand, or be reminded of occasionally.

By taking some time to sit and reflect on exactly what is influencing your decisions, you could save yourself from feeling unfulfilled at times, randomly suffering from an anxiety attack, or suffering from bouts of depression.

Develop a little self-care routine to check up on your mental and physical health and while you're having a spa day, take some time to remind yourself...why exactly are you doing what you're doing. Because if the answer is "because everyone else expects me to," now's the time to change your course.