Too Busy Being Busy

When was the last time you prioritized your focus and tasks and stuck to them? And when was the last time you sat down and pinpointed exactly how you determine what is and isn't a priority?

Most firm leaders are just trying to get through the day. Trying to get through the video calls, the client stuff, and next thing you know, the day/month/quarter/year is over. We find we didn't take the time we should have to invest in ourselves to prioritize, reflect, and set goals.

I was reading “The World Is Flat” by Thomas Friedman, and he talks about how we're so accessible that we're becoming inaccessible. And it got me thinking about how we're so busy being busy that we keep creating busyness.

In short, it's busyness versus effectiveness. We're so busy trying to do everything that we never get to anything. We never get back to the things that we're supposed to be doing.

Now, my dad used to say all the time, anytime you're pointing the finger at someone, you have four pointing back at you. So, I have at least four, probably nine, pointing back at me because this is about focus and prioritization, and I'm not immune to the busyness trap. So, what can we do?

While there is no one way of curing and controlling those urges to be busy and accessible in different ways, the fundamental element is taking time to think.

You're taking on too much stuff.

I've written previously on the benefits of taking productive pauses, taking time to reflect, plan, and be strategic. When it comes to focusing, an exercise I have firm leaders complete is to take a productive pause, reflect and prioritize three priorities for three different buckets:

• Three leadership priorities.

• Three firm or organization priorities.

• Three personal priorities.

We take those nine priorities and narrow them down even more. And it's a challenging exercise for most people to go through. Taking the time to reflect is difficult, but prioritizing for most people is even more challenging.

All nine priorities on that list are important. This exercise is not about what does and doesn't belong on the list. It’s about focusing on what is important now. When setting priorities, keep in mind that we aren’t locked in so much that nothing could ever change. Instead, we acknowledge that we know things will happen that may change our priorities. External forces can make us think differently or require us to pivot. “Initiative fatigue” is real at both an individual and organizational level.

It's about prioritization and focus, putting some foundational stakes in the ground to focus on.

It gives us the appropriate focus that we need without ignoring other things that come our way. And if we accomplish them sooner than we expected, then we move on to the next one.

Are you and your firm taking on too much? Reach out to me if you need help escaping the busyness trap.