There's more to life than “busyness”
3 Tips to stop being “busy" so you can be happier instead.
You may not intially agree, but the truth is... being busy makes us feel good. It can feel validating. We equate effort with worth.
And it’s burning us out.
Even when we know we want to find more work-life balance, to spend time on meaningful work, and to disconnect at the end of the day, actually doing that is another story.
When we’re busy running around, answering emails, putting out fires, and racing to back-to-back meetings, we’re operating out of our flight, flight or freeze stress response.
In this heightened “busy” state our ability to prioritise diminishes, and we become fixated on immediate, often less important tasks. Our productivity and effectiveness goes down and our stress goes up.
According to research we lose up to 13 IQ points when we’re in this state (the equivalent of not having slept the night before!).
An HBR study found that employees spend up to 80% of their day in meetings, on emails/calls, leaving no time for the “critical work” which they feel they have to complete then in their own time. Which only adds to the tiredness and stress…
Sound familiar?
Working in this way continuously is not sustainable and contributes to burnout.
Instead of being busy, it's better to be purposeful. Stop leaning-in to busyness and trying harder to do more, and step-back and choose where to put your focus.
As promised last time, here’s 3 key ways to beat “busyness” and “productivity shame" so you can be happier and healthier overall.
3 key ways to beat ‘busyness’
1. Know that the opposite of being busy is not being lazy
Activities like boredom, daydreaming, deliberate rest, deep focus, socialising, and disconnecting from work have been proven to have positive effects on creativity, productivity, and well-being. So please stop feeling guilt or shame about not being productive!
Action: Look at your week and make sure you have space for these activities and treat it as valuable time (because it is!)
Tip: If you have a hectic work schedule - diarise breaks in your day (including lunch if needed) and try to book meetings in blocks of 25 or 50 minutes - allowing breaks between meetings. Respect these commitments and ask others to do the same.
2. Get clear on where the time goes
To reduce busyness in your workday and life, get clear on how you spend your time. You can use an app to track this but it can be much simpler; take moments to reflect on how your day was spent and make adjustments for the next day.
Be aware that we lose 20-80% of our productive time when we try to switch between tasks (aka multitasking)- according to psychologist Gerald Weinberg. So time grouping tasks into blocks, is a great way to reduce this.
Action: Set an alarm at midday and reflect on how you spent your morning, then check in again at 6pm. Next: decide what went well and what you want to do differently the next day.
-> Notice if you tend to say yes even when your capacity says no! (more on this next time!)
-> Remember to celebrate any wins and replicate those where you can.
Tip: Time blocking can help contain busyness by scheduling specific blocks for different tasks, such as email and focused work. This practice reduces the loss of productivity caused by multitasking.
3. Get clear on your priorities and be transparent about the most important one.
Your health (mental and physical) is the foundation of everything. Sadly we often only realise it when we have a health scare or it's too late.
So prioritise activities that promote your health and wellbeing and be transparent with work about this.
Action: Have a conversion at work about “mental and physical fitness” and what you need to be at your best. Agree what the parameters are with your team so that everyone’s clear on what’s acceptable, so that everyone's needs are met as far as possible. Make sure it’s explicit*.
Tip: if you have seniority at work - this needs to be led by you to make it ‘safe’ for others to talk about what they need to operate at their best. For more on this research ‘psychological safety’.
Try to remember, busyness can be a way of numbing. A way for us to feel like we’re doing something important, when actually we’re missing out on what really matters.
So take time to smell the roses, to play with your kids, call someone you love, to start that business or just for that moment of inspiration to land.
"Life is too short to be busy."
Need a hand breaking out of the “busyness” trap?
I can support you on this journey to more purpose, productivity and peace. Book a free discovery call here to find out how.
*In a work context - the organisation and leadership must play a role - especially if your workload is unmanageable. This article is written with the assumption you are able to speak up safely. If that’s not the case please seek support from the right channels in your organisation or outside if needed.