[sras-me]

My thoughts exactly. The question is a very good one. But the article does not really answer it.

To add to your observation, I think there is also a social aspect to it. I have often felt that being "not busy" is not socially acceptable. Or in other words being busy is somehow more respectable. So we tend to brag about being busy, and helps to perpetuate this point of view.

[brain5ide]

"If you're not busy, why don't you help me doing this thing that we both kinda like? (but I have to do for reasons other than pure enjoyment)"

I think that social acceptance sums up into that sentence here.