Are you Busy?

I’m not busy.

Wow! It feels like I’ve confessed to some major flaw or deficit in my life.

These day’s it seems that everyone is busy, it’s become a default status for our lives. On the home front we are juggling family commitments, sporting activities, socialising, and domestic chores to name a few things and of course we are spending time cataloguing all of these things on various social media platforms. Work is no less frantic with lots of demands from our boss and colleagues, meetings, paperwork, emails etc. You get the picture right?

If we can’t say we’re busy then we feel guilty, as if we’re slacking off. This is because being busy is often seen as an indicator of our work ethic, commitment, performance and ultimately success. If doing more is a good thing why then are we continually encouraged to ‘work smarter, not harder’. What does working smarter actually mean? Personally I think it’s about making smarter decisions about where to spend our time. Taking time to consider whether this activity or that action is going to add value to our lives. Is it going to help us achieve our goals?

Of course the only way we can answer that question is to be clear about our goals. Clarifying our goals requires time to think and in our busy lives, finding that time can be challenging. I sometimes worry that we have lost the ability to be still and staying busy gives us a false sense of accomplishment.

This lack of being busy, is something I’ve only recently learned to embrace. I’m not busy but I’m learning to get lot of things done. Important things. Things that move me forward toward my goals and give me the time I need to enjoy some quiet reflection of my world and myself.

So I encourage you to take time to let your thoughts wander. To think about nothing in particular. To enjoy the quiet, both outside and inside yourself. And in this space, take the time to think about what is important to you, what your goals are and ultimately whether all of your ‘busy-ness’ is taking you down the path toward your goals.

Ask yourself if what you are doing today is taking you closer to where you want to be tomorrow.

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference.
 
**If you would like to start clarifying your goals get a free copy of my Setting Yourself up for Success E-Workbook here.