Too busy or not too busy: is that the question?

If you are feeling busy right now this article is for you.  

And if you are anything like me that busyness at times is overwhelming.

If I am really honest I am feeling overwhelmed right now. On top of our usual run rate with four kids, three rabbits, two dogs and work ramping up for the year, we are packing up two homes renovating and selling one and moving into the other, dealing with health issues in the family, and the list goes on…

So why might you ask if I am feeling so busy am I spending time writing an article about being busy?

Well your question in part contains the answer.

I have become increasingly aware that feeling busy is at the end of the day just a feeling. And as with all feelings it is important that we acknowledge and learn from them but not let them rule us. As the old saying goes

"emotions are a powerful servant but a terrible master."

Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Emotional Agility and Harvard Medical School Professor Susan David (pictured below) put it this way when she joined us last year...

"emotions are data, not directions".

Between the feeling of being busy and our response to that feeling there is always a choice.

So feeling busy as I do and knowing that all emotions have something to teach us what can I/we learn from this feeling and what comes next?

Lesson 1: Feeling busy is not the same as being productive

Feeling busy is OK if what you are doing is productive, but often we find ourselves feeling busy doing things that add little to our psychological well-being or happiness. Over the short-term this is OK but long term unproductive busyness is unsustainable.

According to 'the father of positive psychology' Professor Martin Seligman leading a fulfilling life is a function of five elements. Cultivating positive (P) emotions, engaging (E) in activities that require our full resources, building relationships (R), having a purpose and meaning (M) beyond our immediate needs, and the pursuit of goals and achievements (A).

When feeling busy or overwhelmed it can be helpful to check whether the busyness is leading to one or more of the PERMA elements. If not then it is most likely unproductive busyness and a course correction is required. (click here to learn more about PERMA)

Lesson 2: Busyness is not good for business

Feeling busy if it is both unproductive and not addressed can lead to stress related symptoms that ultimately result in mental and/or physical health issues, none of which are good for business.

Feeling busy can also be distastrous for creativity, decision making and problem solving. When New York-based neuroleadership expert Dr David Rock (pictured below) joined us a couple of years ago he spoke about the risks associated with being an 'always on' society. From the second we wake till the moment we fall asleep we are racing. David emphasised the critical importance of finding ‘off time’ for our brains so we can hear ourselves. He described the enormous processing capacity of our subconscious in comparison to the surprisingly limited resources of our conscious mind. 

The problem with busyness is that it stops us from benefiting from our own personal quantum super computer just below the surface of our consciousness.

We have all experienced ‘a-ha’ moments when we remember where we left our missing mobile phone, when we came up with a creative solution, when that person’s name comes back to you that you’ve been wracking your brains about all day. And we all know when these moments happen… when we are in the shower, about to go to sleep, etc. In other words when we are not busy right? Well not exactly.

It turns out according to Dr Rock switching off is definitely a key strategy to cultivating more ‘a-ha’ moments BUT it is to not the only way.

Dr Rock suggests some forms of busyness may also be part of the solution. David suggests consciously acknowledging what the problem is to be solved and then getting busy doing and focusing on something else, preferably something routine or repetitive. Washing the dishes, cleaning the pool, mowing the lawn, and going for a run are four of my favourite things to do to access breakthrough thinking in this way.

On this basis again feeling busy is not always a bad thing, as long as we are intentional and disciplined about the type of busyness we are experiencing.

Lesson 3: Busyness is not a status symbol

Being seen to be busy has become a badge of honour in some cultures. An HBR titled Why Americans are so Impressed by Busyness revealed that busy people are seen to have higher status. This is in stark contrast to the days of aristocracy where the higher up in society you were the more leisure time you had. 

According to the research the reason for this change over the last 150 years relates to the rise of the knowledge economy. The article highlights that…

“In such economies, individuals who possess the human capital characteristics that employers or clients value (e.g., competence and ambition) are expected to be in high demand and short supply on the job market. Thus, by telling others that we are busy and working all the time, we are implicitly suggesting that we are sought after, which enhances our perceived status.”

The truth however is less relevant than the perception. The key in this game, and it is a game, is to look busy. Another study in the same article demonstrated that simply wearing a hands-free Bluetooth headset (a product associated with busyness and multitasking) sends a stronger signal about our social standing than wearing a pair of headphones for music (a product associated with leisure and free time).

Scott Adams captures this finding perfectly in cartoon at the top of this article.

Research by great friend of the CEO Forum Andy Meikle across the last three decades involving well over 30,000 of the world's highest performers says otherwise. Andy describes how those that are the best in the world exude a common characteristic that he calls 'grace'.

Andy has found time and time again that those at the top of their game, whatever their field of expertise, seem to have more time, more presence, more attention, and more generously share that with others, quite the opposite of our friend in the Dilbert cartoon.

Nelson Mandela was one of the best examples of this according to Andy. Not only did Andy interview Mandela before he died, he has also interviewed a number of Mandela's peers incarcerated with him at Robben Island. One them said something I will never forget about the great man...

"Mandela walked as though he was free."

Despite the intensity of his surrounds, the injustice of his imprisonment, the brutality of his punishment, the isolation from his loved ones, the psychological torment of his situation, the 27 busy years of hard labor, Mandela role modeled to all around him that although he and his fellow prisoners did not have a choice about their circumstances, no one could take away from them the freedom to choose their response. With that attitude Mandela changed the world.

So what have I learned from feeling busy and what comes next?

1. If I am going to feel busy make sure I am being productive
2. Say no to anything that doesn't tick one of the PERMA elements
3. Intentionally leverage mundane or routine busyness to achieve breakthru thinking
4. Don't fall into the busyness trap that the busier I am the more important I must be
5. Schedule in time to de-tox, de-tech and de-stress, and that
6. Irrespective of my circumstances I always have the freedom to choose my response.

All the best with responding to your feelings of busyness and learning from the experience.

Please find below links to my previous monthly posts.

• Who inspired you in 2017? My top ten!
• The missing link of high performance
• The future belongs to people with this skill
• Lessons from loss
• Good Grief
• 20 reasons why corporate wellness programs get sick
• Australia is still lucky... but for how long?
• Change management has become a joke!
• Are you ready for the third age?
• What matters most in a post-truth world?
• Never waste a good crisis
• Your best bet yet for a year of success
• What will your New Year's Evolution be?
• Are you ready for the 'gig economy'?
• Are you working with an energy vampire?
• From counting people to making people count
• Five novel tactics for better leadership
• Mid year reviews: Ubiquitous but ridiculous
• Talent pipelines are broken
• Australia: The innovation immigration correlation
• Time to reimagine HR
• The secret to successful disruption: The innovation colony
• How to survive and thrive in the supermatrix
• The biggest predictor of career success is...
• The secret to high performance is not what you think...
• Where are you on the digital vortex?
• Diversity does not equal inclusion
• How to catch and hold the rebound expat
• The e-factor is the new x: the ultimate growth multiplier
• Are you working with a waste of space?
• Iron Man needs you!
• Collaboration: the new super skill
• Leading innovation from the Australian subsidiary
• Insurgent or incumbent: the key to a future every company wants is...
• Why the talent war is over
• How 'the other GDP' is causing a talent crunch

Rich Hirst is a Director of Gartner's International Executive Forums, providing a range of services specifically and exclusively for the most senior executives in the Australian operations of foreign-owned multinational corporations.  

International Executive Forums operate three peer groups: the International CEO Forum with close to 3o0 CEO members; the International CFO Forum with around 180 CFO members; and the International HRD Forum with some 160 HRD members.

In addition to our peer group services, we also provide a range of opportunities for our member companies to develop their up-and-coming talent through a series of events with a particular focus on women and emerging executives. For more information please call +612 9955 2848.