Chronic Busyness

"Pathological Busyness"

1. :?being busy to such a degree that is extreme, excessive, or markedly abnormal

The mark of success in business these days is almost always attached to how busy you are. When someone asks how you are doing, it's very common to hear the word busy in the answer.

"How's it going, Jake?"

"Great! I'm super busy with clients these days"

But why did busy become the marker of doing well? There are some pretty strong theories about technology, media to read about, if you like.

I'm more interested in asking another question today - "Do you WANT to be busy?"

Like, really... is it a goal of yours to be busy?

Not for me.

• I want to enjoy my work.
• I want to do things that matter.
• I want to be impactful in my own circles.
• I want to support other great business folks.
• I want to share successes and failures.

The desire to be busy isn't in my top 50!

But there it is. Taking up my thoughts and my days. I feel the need to stay busy. So what would be a better thing to concentrate on?

Lots of things, probably.

But for the focus of enjoying work and accomplishing the things above I listed, what would be more useful?

Consistency.

That is what is missing.

I'm so busy being busy that I drop the ball on things. I stress about what I have to do tomorrow and it's only 10 am. And I am not even what people would consider an anxious person.

And it's all because I chase busy.

What would it look like if I chased consistency? What if I made it my goal to show up and do the same 3 things? -- every. single. day.

That's not the only 3 things I would do. Gosh no! That would be torture for a guy like me.

But if I stuck with the 3 things I knew would help me grow, then what would things look like in 60 days? in 6 months?

That is consistency.

And it's SEVERELY lacking in work today.

@calnewport wrote a great book called "Deep Work" in 2016 that jarred my mindset.

The key is to take it one day at a time. And come with a plan for the day. Then show up tomorrow, and do it again.

But we all get distracted.

T.S. Eliot wrote the quote above in... 1936 ??

*gulp*

Can you imagine what he and other productive people would think of our pathological busyness today? I would imagine we look like a swarm of flies buzzing around aimlessly.

Just me?

In the last newsletter, I discussed 'Clarity'. Most of us are too busy to sit down and get clear on what we want, and how to get there.

Then the ones that DO get clear often get distracted in the "doing" phase.

There are so many great activities to do in the name of "growing our business". Our problem is not information.

Our problem is not access to knowledge or even wisdom.

Our problem is consistency.

Grit.

Stick to it-ness.

Patience.

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How do we get more consistent?

There are lots of tips, tricks, hacks, tools, and resources that can help you stay on track. But once again we can get caught in MANY ways to fix a problem.

When there is one way that people have stayed on track for years.

Tune in next week for the answer.

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