Catch yourself the next time you say “I am so busy…” think about it, are you really?
Busyness is not good business
I went through a period in my career, where I was ‘SOOO busy’! I was SO busy attending meeting after meeting, my days were scheduled from the time I walked in the office to the end of the day. My real ‘work’ time and I mean by that productive time where I would actually get things done, started after 5:30 pm daily. I was SO busy, juggling work projects, priorities and staffing issues, days moved quickly into years on the job.
Don’t get me wrong, I was very productive and overall attained exceptional results. But oh how much time was wasted during business hours on non-productive meetings, and so much work time overlapped into my personal time in order to retain my level of results. I felt like I moved through life putting out one fire and then going to the next, putting that out and then going to the next. Sound familiar?
I would wake at 5 am and get some emails done before waking my children to get them ready for the day. Rush to work, for many years being the first in the office so I could get some quiet time before my day was taken hostage by others agendas. My breakless days rarely included time to eat lunch. I ran on adrenaline and a lot, yes a lot, of coffee.
I would get in an hour at the end of the day after staff had left the office and then rush home to cook and have dinner with my children. I would spend time with them doing homework or activities and when I had them tucked in bed, my nightly work routine would start. This is when I worked on projects and finally got around to doing some email, which I often did until one o’clock in the morning. Not exactly a healthy existence; and oh how much time I wasted over those years, surviving this way year after year. My message for you: simply don’t do it!
On reflection, did I really have to be that busy? No. The norm of the environment that I was working in was not based on your effectiveness nor results, but the number of meetings and projects you juggled—how ridiculous! I remember trying to implement a ‘no meeting Wednesday’ or a day to work remotely to actually get some work done, and I was laughed at for such a ridiculous idea. Now how many progressive organizations function around these two options, and retain engaged employees with higher levels of productivity, increased results, and sustained longevity?
Looking back on this time of craziness, which many leaders recall similar times of “busy-ness,”I laugh at myself at the time I wasted, the time I will never regain. With maturity and increased job responsibilities comes a bird’s eye view of how you could have done things differently.
I spend time daily reminding leaders of these very facts: life is short; be a good leader; take time with your family and friends as it is precious; and treat your health, well-being and exercise time like gold. Just like when you are on a plane and you are told if you are traveling with a child to put on your air mask first, it is the same in life – the more time you actually spend looking after yourself, the better person you will be and in short, the better leader.
I challenge you to take five minutes and evaluate what is on your calendar for the next week. Then ask yourself the following:
- Are there any meetings that are not essential in my calendar this week? Cancel them, or reschedule them when they will be most productive.
- Do you have time blocked off daily to work on your top 20% of tasks that will bring you the greatest impact? If not, move things on your calendar to enable you to do to so. Daily, I concentrate time on my top 1-3 tasks that are essential to move important projects forward. I do not allow this time to be interrupted or bumped for another type of meeting.
- Do you have a process at the beginning of your day that you follow to ensure you stay on track? If not, I encourage you to simply spend the first ten minutes of every day thinking and strategizing about what you expect to get out of your scheduled interactions so you have a plan which will provide you greater focus. Do the same at the end of the day, evaluate what you accomplished, if there are any carryover tasks or follow up that you need to do and schedule the time to do so.
- Is there a day, or half a day a week that you can allocate as a ‘meeting free’ zone so you can get some concentrated time on a special project? If you do not do this already, make it happen it will change your work week for the positive considerably.
If you would like to connect with me on this blog post to continue the conversation, please join my Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/JennyReillyConsulting/
