As we can’t MAKE time, it’s essential that we SPEND time what we have working as effectively as possible
I always remember an uncle of mine, who my family only ever saw at weddings and funerals. Every time we met, he’d shake hands with my dad and ask, “keeping busy”?
To the 9 year-old me it seemed like a proper grown-up question, as I had never done anything just to keep myself busy.
Life for me then was full of adventure, fun and laughter.
Being busy seems to be a badge of honour: “I’m so busy, I’m so stressed…”.
Working hard seems to be a mantra we have taken from previous generations when we should be working smarter, not harder. Productive, not busy.
There is so much at our fingertips that will stop us being busy, and help us to be relaxed, productive and useful:
- Online calendars, scheduling tools and planners
- Automation for emails, sales funnels and contact management
- Access to freelancers who can do what we don’t need to
- Coaches and mentors to show us exactly how to be LESS busy
Of course, the biggest unbusyness tool of all is simply this:
You deciding to only do what only you can do, always.
Make time by deciding how you spend it.
Here are some reasons NOT to devote extra ‘busyness’ time to a particular task:
- Just because it’s fun
- Just because it’s easy
- Just because it’s instantly gratifying
- Just because other people are doing it too
- Just because it takes our mind off our problems
In fact, there’s only one good reason to be doing anything: Because it moves you closer to the life you want and the person you want to become.
Next time you’re engaged in work, apply that test and ask yourself: are you being busy for busy sake or being productive?
If I were somehow reunited with my (now late) uncle, and he asked me if I’d been keeping busy, I’d have to say, no, of course not. Why would I be?