--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To occupy yourself with tasks that are…" description: "\"To occupy yourself with tasks that are useful to yourself and others, you can get your mind off your problems.\" — Frederick Lenz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-u_1649530.jpg" --- # To occupy yourself with tasks that are useful to yourself… ![“To occupy yourself with tasks that are useful to yourself and others, you can get your mind off your problems.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-u_1649530.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-u_1649530.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-u_1649530.jpg) > “To occupy yourself with tasks that are useful to yourself and others, you can get your mind off your problems.” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Engaging in meaningful tasks diverts attention from personal problems. **In simple terms:** Busy work can shift focus from issues. Key Takeaway Choose purposeful activities to gain mental relief. Themes productivity mindfulness distraction Mood thoughtful calm Type self-help advice When to use this quote - workplace projects - volunteering - creative hobbies Key Concepts psychology self-help Questions to Reflect On - What tasks bring you joy and purpose? - How can you balance distraction with addressing issues? A Different Perspective Task focus may avoid deeper problem solving. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [Breaking tasks down into smaller sub-tasks can be very useful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-surowiecki/breaking-tasks-down-into-smaller-sub-tasks-can-be-very-useful/) [James Surowiecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-surowiecki/) > [Occupy yourself with what's in your life now. Address those situations and subjects as fully as possible with your best efforts. That is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/occupy-yourself-with-what-s-in-your-life-now-address-those-situations/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Occupy yourself, and you will be out of harm's way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/occupy-yourself-and-you-will-be-out-of-harm-s-way/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [As much as there is joy in writing, there's always the little bit of terror to keep you on edge, on your toes. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/as-much-as-there-is-joy-in-writing-there-s-always-the-little-bit-of/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [Above all, do not lie to yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/above-all-do-not-lie-to-yourself/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [For if the proper study of mankind is man, it is evidently more sensible to occupy yourself with the coherent, substantial and significant creatures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/for-if-the-proper-study-of-mankind-is-man-it-is-evidently-more/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [When you're dealing with killing people and things that are upsetting, that can be a delicate place to occupy yourself for a day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-purefoy/when-you-re-dealing-with-killing-people-and-things-that-are-upsetting/) [James Purefoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-purefoy/) > [As we grow older we become more conscious of the complexity, incoherence, and unreasonableness of human beings; this indeed is the only excuse that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/as-we-grow-older-we-become-more-conscious-of-the-complexity-2/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [My hope is that the work is in some way counter-pinup. A pinup asks you to suspend interest in who the person is and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jock-sturges/my-hope-is-that-the-work-is-in-some-way-counter-pinup-a-pinup-asks/) [Jock Sturges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jock-sturges/) > [Hip-hop has been hijacked by a Luciferian conspiracy. People have used hip-hop in a lot of ways that cause a lot of mind problems.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/afrika-bambaataa/hip-hop-has-been-hijacked-by-a-luciferian-conspiracy-people-have-used/) [Afrika Bambaataa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/afrika-bambaataa/) > [“When things go wrong in our life and we encounter difficult situations, we tend to regard the situation itself as our problem, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsang-gyatso/when-things-go-wrong-in-our-life-and-we-encounter-difficult/) [Kelsang Gyatso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsang-gyatso/) > [My life, My choices, My problems, My mistakes, My lessons. Not your business, mind your own problems before you talk about mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laine/my-life-my-choices-my-problems-my-mistakes-my-lessons-not-your/) [Laine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laine/) > [“...each of us needed to find just the right way to take our mind off our problems, and it did not matter what that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/each-of-us-needed-to-find-just-the-right-way-to-take-our-mind-off-our/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [My mistakes. My lessons. Not your business. Mind your own problems before you talk about mine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-mistakes-my-lessons-not-your-business-mind-your-own-problems/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My life, My choices, My problems, My mistakes, My lessons. Not your business, mind your own problems before you talk about mine., and Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxette/my-life-my-choices-my-problems-my-mistakes-my-lessons-not-your-3/) Roxette ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Buddhism quotes > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightenment is lightening up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-myers/enlightenment-is-lightening-up/) [Mike Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-myers/) > [The very best players, when they are practicing, put everything they've got into it. But then they leave it for a while. And it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/the-very-best-players-when-they-are-practicing-put-everything-they-ve/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“Exactly. I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-niemczura/exactly-i-think-the-original-tantric-buddhists-took-notice-of-was/) [Joe Niemczura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-niemczura/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mom and my aunties are really devout Christians. My mom married a Muslim when I was 12, so I got teachings from both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tech-n9ne/my-mom-and-my-aunties-are-really-devout-christians-my-mom-married-a/) [Tech N9ne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tech-n9ne/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“The extraction of discrete parts of Chöd teachings from their broader philosophical contexts is symptomatic of how Chöd has been incorporated into and transmitted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-sorensen/the-extraction-of-discrete-parts-of-ch-d-teachings-from-their-broader/) [Michelle Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-sorensen/) > [Buddhism advises you not to implant feelings that you don’t really have or avoid feelings that you do have. If you are miserable you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/buddhism-advises-you-not-to-implant-feelings-that-you-don-t-really/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“That's all there is, enlightenment on the end of a cock. It doesn't get any more Zen than that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaden-wilkes/that-s-all-there-is-enlightenment-on-the-end-of-a-cock-it-doesn-t-get/) [Jaden Wilkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaden-wilkes/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) [Browse all 6,100 Buddhism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To occupy yourself with tasks that are useful to yourself and others, you can get your mind off your problems.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick Lenz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-useful-to-yourself-and-others/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Buddhism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-useful-to-yourself-and-others/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-u_1649530.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-u_1649530.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-u_1649530.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To occupy yourself with tasks that are useful to yourself and others, you can get your mind off your problems.” — Frederick Lenz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Frederick Lenz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To occupy yourself with tasks that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-useful-to-yourself-and-others/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/to-occupy-yourself-with-tasks-that-are-useful-to-yourself-and-others/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```