The Active Leader - Steps to Overcome Busyness (Part 2)

Leaders often feel tired and like they are burning the candle at both ends. Maybe you feel like when you have a moment to rest or relax you feel guilty because there are ten things that come to mind that you feel like you should be doing?  Many leaders feel like Bernard Bear in the video below.

In the Genesis account of the first business owner, they experienced this same overwhelming and overcommitted feeling. 

Genesis 3:6 "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."

Let me introduce you to the sabotage of Activity.  After the mistake of eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve focused on activity to solve their problem. Their first action was to sew leaves together to cover their nakedness. The sabotage of activity is a common theme throughout history and throughout the stories of the Bible. The sabotage of Activity is not a new concept, especially in the industrial culture.  Look at some biblical characters and the activity that ruled their life.

• Jonah spent time running. Jonah 1:3 says "But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD." 
• David spent time ordering. 2 Samuel 11:4 records "Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home." 
• ? Achan spent time hiding.  Joshua 7:21 reads, "When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels[d] of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
• ? Martha spent time preparing. Luke 10:40 reports, "But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

Most leaders overfill their calendars and their time with too much activity. They find themselves addicted to the habits of activity. Great leaders learn how to move away from activity to impact.

4 Habits That Help Overcome the Sabotage of Activity

1. Learn the Art of Saying "No"!

Adam and Eve started by saying "yes" to the serpent and leaders have been saying "yes" to things every since. Saying "yes" to the right things is always right. But leaders can not always say "yes." They must learn the art of saying "no." The word no allows the leader to focus. When a leader has learned the art of saying "no" it empowers them to use their time and energy in areas that have the biggest impact on their company and for their people.

Leadership Question: What was the last five major asks that you said "no" to in your life?

2. Lift Your Attitude Through A Commitment to Rest 

?In his book Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, Dr. Richard Swenson claims that busyness is so commonplace for most of us that we don’t even question it. “The spontaneous tendency of our culture is to add detail to our lives: one more option, one more commitment, one more debt, one more purchase, one more change, one more job, one more decision. We deal with more ‘things per person’ than at any other time in history.” There is a great quote that says “The best bridge between despair and hope is often just a good night’s sleep.”

Leadership Question: How essential do you believe sleep and rest is to your success?

3. Leave Behind The False Idea of Multi-Tasking

Multi-tasking has been elevated to heroic proportions. The more we try to cram in, the more mistakes we make, the less time we truly listen to each other and the more stressed we become without necessarily accomplishing the priorities. 

Time Magazine issued a cover story called The MultiTasking Generation. A key characteristic of Generation Ms (aka Millennials/ Gen Ys) is an extreme ability to multitask. The TIME article suggests that there is no such thing as multitasking because the brain doesn’t work that way. When “multitasking,” the brain actually focuses superficially on different things in sequence, back and forth, rather than simultaneously doing several things well.

Leadership Question: How easily do you find it to focus on one task at a time?

4. Lean into Scheduled Days Off To Gain Perspective and to Let Go

Studies show that breaks and time off actually make us more productive. Effective leaders know the value of breaks throughout the workday. Leaders should never devalue the importance of time off and time away from the office. In fact, it is imperative that every leader learns to set a rhythm of retreats in order to gain perspective and insight. One way many of the best leaders do this is through schedule roundtables each month with their peers.

Leadership Question: How committed are you to scheduled days off?

4.5 Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry

Preacher and author John Ortberg wrote, "Not long after moving to Chicago, I called a wise friend to ask for some spiritual direction. I described the pace of life in my current ministry. The church where I serve tends to move at a fast clip. I also told him about our rhythms of family life: We are in the van-driving, soccer-league, piano-lesson, school-orientation-night years. I told him about the present condition of my heart, as best I could discern it. What did I need to do, I asked him, to be spiritually healthy? Long pause. "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life," he said at last. Another long pause. "Okay, I've written that one down," I told him, a little impatiently. "That's a good one. Now, what else is there?" I had many things to do, and this was a long- distance call, so I was anxious to cram as many units of spiritual wisdom into the least amount of time possible. Another long pause. "There is nothing else," he said. "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." I've concluded that my life and the well-being of the people I serve depends on following his prescription, for hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. Hurry destroys souls." (John Ortberg, "Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry," LeadershipJournal.net (7-4-02)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Ken Gosnell serves leaders by helping them to have great experiences that both transform them and their organizations. He has worked with hundreds of CEOS and their leadership teams to enhance their strategic, operational and people accomplishments. He is an author, coach, and strategic partner with CEOs. He is married to Shonda, and they have four children. You can connect with him at https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/kengosnell/