Till the 1960s, a lifestyle of leisure was an indicator of success. Over the last 60 years, we’ve slowly but surely moved in the opposite direction. Being busy is now a badge of honour. “I’m really busy” almost always has a tinge (or more!) of pride. People’s perception of our success is often directly proportional to how busy we seem to be. Just like people use (rightly or wrongly) the size of your car or house as an indicator of success, they use busy-ness as an indicator of achievement.
Doubtless, being busy can be energising. Consistent action increases your chances of finding a ‘lucky’ break or coming across a high-potential opportunity. Yet, all busy-ness is not equal. Some busy-ness can result in you feeling ‘good tired’ at the end of the day. A ‘good tired’ is when you rest easy at night. Knowing that you’ve done fulfilling things on your terms. Things which matter to you and your business.
Some other busy-ness can result in you feeling ‘bad tired’ at the end of the day. A ‘bad tired’ is when you’ve been dragged through the day doing things driven by other’s expectations. Either implicitly or explicitly. You also get ‘bad tired’ when you’ve spent long hours and are not able to say whether you’ve been productive or not. You are ‘good tired’ when you’re ‘productive’. And ‘bad tired’ when just busy, not productive. This article looks at some signs you’re too busy.While of direct relevance to our professional lives, many of the messages are applicable to our personal lives as well.
Sign #1: You’re not enjoying yourself
There’s a joy in creating. Not so much in doing for the sake of doing. We all have some distasteful tasks which need doing. Yet, that shouldn’t be the highlight of our day. If you’re too busy doing frantic work, your day is unlikely to be productive. Productive work is achieved by working smarter and is fuelled by purpose. This type of deep work gives joy and satisfaction. So, if you’re not enjoying your work, there’s a good chance that you are too busy.
Do keep in mind that everyday can’t be a good day. Whatever you do, it’s likely that you will have workdays which you haven’t enjoyed. Yet, if our ‘busy bad tired’ days outnumber our ‘busy good tired’ days, then it’s time to analyse whether you are too busy.
Sign #2: Not much gets done
You’ve done 3 meetings, 7 phone calls and responded to 32 emails in your day. Yet, you know that not much has happened. Granted, action begets success. Yet, if you regularly feel that you could have been just as productive with 1 meeting, 3 phone calls and 11 emails, you’re too busy. When you’re too busy, it’s easy to lose sight of important activities and focus only on the urgent. That makes you a firefighter, but without the associated satisfaction of helping someone in a life-threatening situation. The Eisenhower matrixis a great framework to help you differentiate between what is urgent and what is important. Learn to prioritise important tasks over urgent tasks and you’ll get a lot more done.
Sign #3: You have constant FOMO
FOMO or the Fear of Missing Out afflicts us all. There’s a vast amount of information and opportunities out there. And we deal with it by dabbling in a little of all of them. What if we miss something important? The tasks we undertake for fear of missing out are a time sink. Whether its constantly checking your social media accounts, email or the latest ‘breaking news’, all of them add up to a significant chunk of your day.
Instead of doing thingsjust due to your FOMO, identify a few places where you seek information and keep yourself updated on opportunities. If you choose well, its likely that you are aware of anything relevant at a fraction of the time. As well as getting more balanced views. Move from FOMO to JOMO- the Joy of Missing Out. It is the feeling of pleasure you get from spending time doing what you want and not worrying about what other people are doing or saying. That makes for a happier existence.
Sign #4: You are a champion multi-tasker
Multi-tasking is bad. Very bad! Multi-tasking can make you feel like Superman. But it’s making you as inefficient as a steam engine. Yes, there is always a lot of work to be done. And it seems as if multi-tasking is the only way to finish your work. Yet, various studies show that we spend 25% more time on a single task, when we’re multi-tasking. That’s because each time we shift our brains attention to another task, there’s a gap between starting the activity and being productive at the activity. So, the better way is to finish one activity (or a logical sub-part of an activity) before moving on to the next activity. A great way to achieve focus on one task is setting a timer for a fixed timeduring which you focus only on one activity. Once the time is up, you reassess how much more time you need. And then decide whether you have time to continue or you move on to another task.
Sign #5: You have the ‘leap reflex’
A term coined by Seth Godin, the leap reflex makes us react to situations without intention or considering the consequences. Even when we wait to react, we often don’t consider all the ramifications well enough. Close enough to the deadline for our reaction, we leap anyways. And leaping into wrong places is a sure way to keep (bad) busy. Instead of reacting, give each situation the time it deserves. Consider all the consequences and then take a conscious decision to act.
Sign #6: You have ‘idleness aversion’
We dread idleness. Studies have shown that ‘even a specious justification can force us to be busy’. And that we use being busy as a shieldagainst our laziness or fear or failure.For example, prioritising a less important task, when we are afraid to take make a decision on more important ones. “Should I call my client and ask him if he wants to go ahead with my proposal? What if he says no? Maybe I should just check my mail before I do this.” It’s a vicious circle of putting things off.Hence, try to differentiate between ‘productive busy’ which is good and ‘busy for the sake of being busy’. It’s difficult to differentiate between the two, but well worth the effort. You will find making the distinction and being aware of it is half the battle won. You’ll understand and be able to make better choices.
Closing thoughts
Beware the barrenness of a busy life, said Socrates. So, if you’re too busy, stop and reassess what’s keeping you busy. And whether it’s productive and you’re enjoying it. If not, slow down and smell the coffee! That might turn out well. As Oscar Wilde said, ‘To do nothing at all, is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual.’
