Are You Busy?

The opposite of busy is productive.

Busy means you have a lot to do. Who doesn’t?

Productive means you are producing, and getting stuff done.

Busy denotes that you are occupied and overloaded.

Productive denotes organization and efficiency.

Busy signifies irons in the fire.

Productive signifies closings.

Busy is haphazard and by chance.

Productive is calculated and prepared.

Busy is swamped.

Productive is profitable.

Busy is not something to be proud of.

Productive is.

Busy is when time controls you.

Productive is when you control time.

We live in a business and world where busy has become a badge of honor, where people boast of their long work hours and piles of unfinished work. Unending to-do lists and oversaturated calendar commitments is no way to live. In essence, your life isn’t your life at all, when you’ve signed your days and weeks over to endless tasks and appointments. The best parts of life, friends, family, books, experiences, walks, sunrises, sunsets, and more should be more than just an afterthought, squeezed in between other priorities. Life, all that good stuff, should come front and center, without sacrificing the quality of work that will be needed to support your great endeavors. You can have a great life simultaneously with a very strong business too.

Here are three simple strategies:

Choose: Being productive versus busy is an ongoing choice to make decisions day by day and hour by hour, for the benefit of your life. This isn’t always easy. Many people choose busyness as a way of life. They like the ongoing stress of having lots of things to do. Often, they choose busyness because they think it’s better for business. That’s simply not true. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs and real estate agents take countless vacations each year. They choose productivity over being busy. Instead of taking every single appointment and committing to every possible task, they decide which ones fit best within their lifestyle. As for everything else, they delegate the task or refer the business. When you choose to live a productive lifestyle rather than just a busy one, you constantly look for ways to maximize profits in limited time while minimizing wasted time. You learn to realize that not every opportunity is an opportunity, and that choosing wisely is an art form.

Single-tasking: One of the leading causes of busyness is multi-tasking. Multi-tasking, which is doing multiple things at one time is the antithesis of productivity. It’s the kid sister of busyness.?Multi-tasking gives you the delusional perception that you can take on more than you can handle, so you do. Furthermore, it slows down the pace at which and degree of success in which you complete the task or mission that must be completed. Many studies clearly show that multi-tasking lowers productivity (see the studies by Stanford University and Cleveland Health). We will talk about the nuances of multi-tasking in a future Mindful Monday. For now, suffice it to say, if you want to remain busy, multi-task everything. If you want to be productive, single-task. Take on one commitment at a time.

De-Clutter: Busy people live in chaos. If your closets, desk, bedroom, car, and drawers look like a tornado hit them, so too will your to-do list, your appointment calendar, and your life. If your life is just in a constant state of being busy, simply start by organizing a dresser drawer. Let go of items you haven’t worn for a long time. Fold and place items so that you can find them. Once that’s done, do another drawer. Then a closet. Then a cabinet. Then your desk. As you begin to take notice of the things around you, the things you save and keep, and as you take time to organize and appreciate them, you will begin to do the same with ethereal items, like your time and your commitments. You will make room for the stuff that matters in your life and discard the stuff that doesn’t.?