Are You Busy, or Do You Take Action?
I’ve spent the past couple of weeks being Very Busy. As a consequence, I haven’t managed to get very much done.,
Is this a conundrum?
Being Busy
Being busy is a state of being that isn’t always productive. Remember when you didn’t want to do something for someone, and you told them you were busy? Busy is just an excuse for not doing what needs to be done.
You can be busy reading email, or straightening your desk, or researching design or code intricacies, or Stumbling around or on Digg or Reddit or Facebook… Some of it even “good”. And you will fritter away all the day until there is nothing left.
Action
Action, on the other hand, is fundamentally productivity-oriented. You must take Action to get something done. Action implies progress. Action is central to accomplishing anything worthwhile.
How to Replace Busy with Action
As I reviewed my weeks, I noted that I had no plan for any of my days. I just took what came along. I gave in to Impulse. To convert Busy to Action for me was to select one central task, and to Focus on it until I had finished it.
Action requires Goals and Focus. Without both, Action is only busy.
How do you stave off Busy-ness and replace it with Action?
I find my busy vs. action modes tend to alternate. I go through days where I’m very productive and others when I’m just pushing paper. It can be frustrating when I lapse into one of those ‘busy’ periods and nothing feels like it is getting done.
I’ve found writing lists can help. Not only does it give you a focus but you can also see what you’ve accomplished each day. When I acknowledge my accomplishments they seem to multiply.
Thanks for sharing your insightful post.
Hi Rebecca
I have notebooks full of lists. Hahaha! I joke that every night my brain goes through a Re-Boot session, and all my memories are wiped clean – ready to start over on every new day.
I find that keeping track of Projects in my Master List instead of Tasks is more productive for me. “Today, I am working on Project XYZ.” Then, I can review my Project Plan and see what Tasks remain undone.
Life brings in too many random interruptions for me to afford total focus on Tasks-at Hand. But, with the Master List it is easier to evaluate and categorize those interruptions and move on.
Trouble comes when the list gets covered over by the piles of incoming interruptions.
John