You Are Too Busy
Richard A. Moran
Venture partner, author, speaker, advisor, radio personality. Lending perspective, prescriptions and personality to the workplace.
It’s not just you. I am too busy. We are all too busy. The truth about the too busy thing only occurred to me recently after hearing from Mark Benioff and Warren Buffet The number of meetings, emails, texts, and conference calls don’t mean anything. In fact, it is probably the case that the more you have; the less effective you are at work. Too busy is a way of life and although we all do it, probably not something to which we should aspire.
Think about this…Ask someone this simple question, “Are you busy?” If the answer is, “No, I am not very busy” we immediately make a judgment about the value the person brings. He or she must be just hanging around. A more likely answer to the question, whether true or not, is, “Yep, way too busy! Just trying to keep up”. And that answer may not be the one that will make you more successful.
When I was a Partner at Accenture I was always on airplanes. When I left the Firm and was no longer flying I wondered what was wrong with me? We operate under the assumption that if we are not busy we are not adding value. We all engage in the contest to see who can pack the most in to a day. Packed calendars are badges of merit. The day must be full of activities or we are losers. Think again.
Mark Benioff, the CEO at SalesForce could be very busy but he had an epiphany on his vacation. https://www.newser.com/story/269536/salesforces-ceo-went-on-vacation-had-an-epiphany.html. Warren Buffet has a little calendar he keeps in his pocket. He typically enters a few meetings a week in the calendar. Bill Gates took the lesson from Warren and now does the same thing. He cut down on appointments and activities.
It is easy to get stuck in a false sense of activity. We can be busy, but so what? What is being accomplished? How are we making things better? What value are we adding? Take a look at your own calendar and assess what is worthwhile and what is not. And don’t feel guilty if you are not booked from 8am to 9pm every day.
Removing activities doesn’t mean you are not busy. It’s just better to be busy on planning, leading or innovating than on email drainage.
Take a look. I dare you to look at that calendar and ask yourself if you are too busy.
[feel free to follow me or add me on LinkedIn]
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Richard is the author of the new book The Thing About Work: Showing Up and Other Important Matters [A Worker’s Manual]. You can follow his writing on Twitter, Facebook, or at his website at richardmoran.com.
Richard is a noted San Francisco based business leader, workplace pundit, bestselling author and venture capitalist.
connectugo
5 年well then Mr Moran maybe you should come on one of mae Company days and learn how to chill EVEN AT WORK WOOHOO? ( then you will be more productive. www.connectugo.com
Leiterin Technische Experten — Humor und Besonnenheit sind Zutaten meines Erfolges
5 年Less often is more, we tend to forget sometimes....
Editor and writer in love with words, ready to be a second pair of eyes to help your writing
5 年A small calendar is a great idea -- then you can say "I don't have room for it" that much easier. These past two days of fighting off the "polar vortex" cold have been time for rest, creativity and communication. Now back to the search!
Business English Trainer at English Solutions
5 年For all the workaholics out there, please read this about guilt and efficient!
I help purpose driven women get out of self care overwhelm by creating a meaningful morning routine that leaves them feeling AH-mazing so they show up everyday as the Purposeful Powerhouses they truly are
5 年Such an important topic! Thank you for posing this important question. we tend to wear busy like a bade of honor when in reality we should be figure out how to work in more downtime to maximize productivity