Busy

We all know someone who is always talking about how busy they are. “How was your weekend? It was so busy” Or at work “How are you doing? I’m busy LOL” and on and on it goes. Everything comes back to how busy they are. In the last few years, this has become known as “Busy Bragging” or “Stress Bragging” which is essentially always referring to how busy one is. ??

I’m not hating needing to vent or share how much workload we all have; that certainly feels good from time to time. But as with everything, a little can go a long way and there is a time and place for that.? In fact, in this Forbes article, Mark Travers, Ph.D. shares just how “busy bragging” can ruin relationships with those we aim to support a strong working bond with. So how do we fight to keep an environment that doesn’t evoke this need to be super busy? I think it comes down to being productive, not busy.?

This weekend, I was having a chat with a friend, and we were talking about how some people can just get things done. They are the doers in our lives that no matter what’s needed, they can always produce finished products. They don’t waste time; they don’t shy away from a challenge, and they are great at figuring out what needs to be done then delivering. In the article “Busy Vs. Productive: Which One Are You?” Jennifer Cohen says this; The most productive and efficient people are those that “own their day” versus letting their day own them. They work to maximize their time to be as productive as possible, not just busy.???

So, how do we know if we’re busy or being productive? Let’s break down each one to make some food for thought:??

Being Productive?

When we’re being productive, we’re creating intentional progress and momentum against an end goal. Some may think of this as moving down a successive list of micro-accomplishments that end with the ultimate aim. Let’s think of this in more practical terms: As an example, our end goal is to clean our entire home. Being productive means that everything we do brings us closer to that end goal but is done with intention and efficiency. So, we tackle one room at a time, spending every moment we’re dedicating towards that room, progressing towards cleaning it, completing each task as we go. Then we move to the next room. Putting items away, then wiping down the surfaces, then vacuuming or sweeping the floor, and finally taking any trash out with us before moving to the next room. We repeat this in succession until the entire house is done. Now let’s compare this to a busy person.?

?Being Busy?

Being busy takes no more or less time than being productive, but the results are tremendously different. Busy people are also always doing something, but the outcomes are sporadic at best. Back to our goal of cleaning an entire home. The busy person, in contrast, tackles a wide variety of tasks without a specific plan or intention. They may pick-up clutter in one room, do the dishes in another, vacuum or sweep a third, all without finishing a completed chapter of work. After a period of time passes, they will have spent the same amount of time as the productive person cleaning, yet the productive person will be able to say the bedrooms and kitchen are clean, while the busy person will be challenged to share that much was completed outside of a few individual (and often disconnected) tasks. ?

?What if I recognize I am always busy but want to become more productive??

The beauty is that it’s not all that hard to make this pivot and we can break it down into a few basic concepts (read more on these here)?

1.??????? Make a list of items that need to be done in successive order and focus on one at a time.?

2.?????? Manage your minutes – everyone has 24 hours in a day, those who use them the most wisely win.?

3.?????? Think small – a long list of small tasks is far easier to tackle than a short list of really big items.?

4.?????? Avoid distraction – we all become easily distracted when we don’t want to do something. Push those distractions aside and get things done!?

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If, in reading this, you find you are a “busy-body” or have fallen into “busy bragging” it’s not all bad news – you can take the above steps and begin applying them. The irony is that the more productive you are, the more people will acknowledge how busy you tend to be unprompted! You will feel recognized for your efforts and need to speak about it less than ever before. ?

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Here’s to a productive week!?