This one may hit a little bit close to home. Are you one of those people who is always busy with something that in reality amounts to nothing? I can almost see you shaking your head in disapproval and dissension but stick with me for a moment.
I still have an e-mail my best friend of almost 30-years sent me years ago about being busy. I won’t bore you with all the details, the point of the e-mail was simply this, we make time for things that we think are important. In other words, if we don’t see value to what it is we are being asked or invited to do, our knee jerk response is to state that we are busy.
May I propose that it is bigger than that though? May I suggest that in all of our busyness real or otherwise we end up missing out on opportunities that actually bring value to our lives.
“I’m so busy...”
Yeah, but are you really. I recently was engaged with a group of guys who do graphic design work, they were helping me out on a few final details on the book I recently finished. During our time working together we started discussing work hours with them collectively complaining as to how many hours a week they had to work. I questioned them as to why they worked so many hours with the intent of drilling down as to whether they actually had that much work that demanded they put in as many hours as they did, or did they simply fill the time they worked with the work they had to complete.
Perhaps it’s a paradox, but allow me some leeway here. There are days where my workload dictates that I work 8, 10 perhaps even 12 hours while other days the workload is such that I can be done in 3-4 hours. The reality is, I could probably stretch those 3-4 hours to fill 8 hours that defines a “normal” workday, but in doing so I miss out on other opportunities. The fact is, when work demands a 12 hour work day, I roll up my sleeves and get what needs to get done, done.
It isn’t filler meant to ride out a clock - quite the contrary. In teaching my self not to be busy just for the sake of being busy, when work demands more I commit more time to it and my schedule reflects that. Make no mistake, I love 12 hour days - but I love the 4-5 hours days even more. Those are the days that afford me the opportunity to seek new challenges.
When I was 21 I took a job doing sales for a guy who loved the 9-5 grind of business. The atmosphere of the company demanded you be on the phone from the time you clocked in until the clock struck 5 o’clock. This grind went on each and everyday, despite the fact that by about 3 on Fridays most of my clients who happened to be on the East Coast while I was on the West Coast had long since gone home for the weekend.
Voicemails would be left that I knew wouldn’t be heard until the following Monday, but hey, at least I looked busy.
Do you see where I am going with this? I sure looked busy, but I wasn’t productive.
Now, I’m going to hit you with one final thought as I wrap up this post and offer this nugget of fun - I wasn’t able to post today’s Monday Morning Minute until well after 6 this evening because, wait for it... I was busy this morning!
But that busy was profitable, productive and intentional. In other words, I wasn’t busy simply for the sake of being busy.
My encouragement to you this week is simply this, evaluate how you treat your time and identify some areas where you may be busy just for the sake of being busy. Challenge yourself to find something intentional to fill that time in place of being busy - I think you will be quite pleased with the outcome.
Go forth and be busy no more!
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