Tag: busyness

Are you productive? Or are you just busy?

Don’t confuse busyness with productivity. Work on things that matter/move the needle. Don’t spend time on the trivial…eliminate that which isn’t necessary for you (or anyone) to do, automate that which can be automated (have A.I. help), and delegate that which needs to be done but not necessarily by you.

If you want to grow, you will HAVE to learn how to do these things. We all only have so much time and energy during the day. If we spend all of it doing things that don’t bring us closer to our goals, we are leaving a lot on the table.

Being busy is not necessarily the same as being productive. How can you minimize the busy work and focus on doing the most meaningful and/or dollar-productive work?

Searching for peace? Then do this!

If you want peace and tranquillity, focus on saying “no” to more things and doing less. Be selective with what you give your time, energy, and money to. Focus on what’s essential. Ask yourself: what makes the most positive impact on your life from a mental, social/relational, spiritual, financial, and physical standpoint? How can you keep doing those things (or if you’re not doing enough of those, how can you do it more often)?

On the flip side, what are the biggest/most negative stressors in your life? What are things that need to be done, but maybe not by you or not right now? How can you eliminate or minimize those?

Lastly, stop feeling like you’re obligated to say yes to everything. If it excites you and is good for you, say yes! If it needs to be done by you, even if it doesn’t excite you, say yes. But if it doesn’t, you can just as easily decide to say no if that’s what you really want to do.

Never mistake busyness for productivity.

Yesterday, I wrote about how taking action cures anxiety. Doing something – anything – can take your mind off of what MIGHT happen. And, honestly, it can feel pretty good.

But have you ever sat down after a long, busy day at work and realize that you didn’t accomplish anything you set out to for the day? Or, even worse, do you not even know what tasks are really the important ones you need to complete?

Never mistake motion for action. Never mistake busyness for productivity.

Being busy can feel good, but it’s often an illusion. Focus on checking less things off of your To Do list and instead, check things off your priority list. Ask yourself, “if I could only get one thing done today, what would I choose to do in order to feel the most accomplished (or least stressed)?”

When you wake up each morning (or before you go to bed at night), plan your day out. Set out to do the most important tasks first, especially if they’re difficult. As Brian Tracy says, “Eat that frog.” If you must eat the frog anyways, you might as well get it out of the way and not let the thought of eating the frog chip away at you all day.

Do your most important tasks first, and if you have two equally important tasks, choose to finish the most difficult one first.

Being busy is not a sign of achievement

The busier I am, the more I have failed. If I’m to busy or overworked, that means I don’t have systems or processes in place to ease the workload. Or I haven’t hired enough people (or the right people). Or, if I have the people on my team, I haven’t delegated enough.

Instead of doing everything yourself, ask who, not how. Figure out who can do this for me. If you want to become the best, you need to scale, or else you’ll reach your limitations so quickly that you’ll never become the best. Figure out who the best person is to hire for the job. Figure out how can I outsource this, not how can I do this.