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#Leadership : The Secrets of the Most #ProductivePeople -How to be Busy without Feeling Overwhelmed…“Busy” Doesn’t really Mean “Productive”; Here’s How to Switch your Focus to What Really Matters.

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At most moments in the day, we’re busy doing something; however, there’s a big difference between being busy and productive and just being busy. It’s easy to fall into the latter category when days are filled with never-ending tasks. Lately, though, admitting that you’re “busy” has gotten a bad rap.

When you find yourself feeling busy, slow down and take stock to see if those things you’re working on are things you should be tackling at all or at that moment,”

“The term ‘busy’ became a badge of honor,” says Mike Vardy, founder of the Productivityist website. “Being busy shows you’re important; you’ve got things going on. Having that status symbol is one of the reasons why people held onto it.”

But “busy” doesn’t really mean “productive,” and it can often lead to a feeling of overwhelm. Henry David Thoreau once said, “It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”

“Once you start to look at that, the term ‘busy’ loses some of its luster,” says Vardy. “Throwing around the word ‘busy,’ is like using the F word; it’s only powerful in specific situations.”

Related: Why You Need to Stop Bragging About How Busy You Are

 

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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THE PROBLEM WITH “BUSY”

The word “busy” is defined as being “engaged in action.” The bad kind of busy is taking action without being engaged in it and doing so repeatedly, says Vardy.

“It’s spending time getting your email inbox to zero without being engaged with everything that lands there first,” he says. “It’s surfing the web without a clear objective in mind before opening the browser. It’s decluttering your space–physical and/or digital–without putting a plan in place first.

“The right kind of busy depends on intention before attention. The wrong kind of busy attracts attention before intention.”

Busy can also be isolating. Inevitably someone will ask you what you’re doing or how you’ve been, and if your reflex answer is “busy” it can be dismissive and shut down conversations. “The person often responds with, ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to bug you,’ and backs away,” says Vardy.

Saying you’re “crazy busy” is even worse. “Not only am I busy, I’m frantically busy,” says Vardy. “I don’t think it’s meant to be a conversation stopper. It’s meant to say, ‘This is how important I am. I have this stuff.’ We all have stuff. We’re all busy.”

HOW TO MAKE “BUSY” GOOD

Busy can be good, but you first need to answer Thoreau’s question–busy doing what?

“If you’re engaged in action, are those actions moving you forward in a way that’s truly productive?” asks Vardy. “Checking email, for example, is not a definition of being productive. What you’re doing should be an act of will.”

To get some clarity on whether you’re engaged in productive action or engaged in busywork, reframe your words. In her book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, author Laura Vanderkam writes, “Instead of saying, ‘I don’t have time,’ say, ‘It’s not a priority,’ and see how that feels.” Changing the sentence helps you be objective and determine if you’re spending time on the right things.

Similarly, saying “I’m busy” is like saying, “I don’t have time for this.” Instead, Vardy suggests reframing the phrase to “My attention right now is on …” or “I’m busy doing these things.”

“That gives you a lot more to go with,” he says. “For example, ‘I’m busy working on my book,’ or ‘I’m focusing on building my online platform.’ Having a better phrase allows you to take that word back and make ‘busy’ matter.”

Related: Asking this one question can make you feel like you have more time

When you tell others what you’re giving your attention to, you create more of a conversation with someone who is asking for your time. “You can add, ‘I can’t talk to you right now because I’m focusing on this,’ but simply saying you’re busy has lost its power because it doesn’t have any meat behind it,” says Vardy.

Productivity is about slowing down to figure out if you’re doing the right things in first place, says Vardy. “When you find yourself feeling busy, slow down and take stock to see if those things you’re working on are things you should be tackling at all or at that moment,” he says.

 

FastCompany.com | August 14, 2018 | BY STEPHANIE VOZZA 3 MINUTE READ

 

#Leadership : #WorkSmart – 5 Ways To Reset An #Unproductive Afternoon…One or Two Hours of Lost #Productivity Shouldn’t Ruin your Whole Workday. Here are Some Ideas to Reset your Brain & Start Fresh.

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We live in a world surrounded by distractions. If you work in an open office, chances are, you have to fight them on a daily basis–whether it’s your coworker who talks loudly on the phone, or that little notification box at the bottom of your screen. Sometimes you’ve just had a rough morning, and doing anything productive feels like moving a mountain.

But just because you had an unproductive stint during your workday doesn’t mean that your entire afternoon is doomed. Take a deep breath and try one of these methods to get you back to work mode in no time.

1. DO SOMETHING TO DISCONNECT

If your work allows for flexible hours, one of the best things you can do is leave the office and do some sort of activity to recharge. Elizabeth Grace Saunders, in a previous article for Fast Company, recommends getting some exercise or running an errand so “you still have some personal time to recharge and get back to your desk refreshed and focused.” If it’s toward the end of the day (and you don’t have any after-work obligations), you might even want to come back when everyone is starting to leave, so that you can get your work done with minimal interruptions.

Related:Here’s How A Month Of Exercise Affected My Brain 

2. OUTSOURCE YOUR WORRIES

Sometimes, you’re distracted by your own thoughts, and no amount of decluttering can help your concentration. This feeling is even more crippling if you’re already feeling lonely, Lisa Evans previously wrote for Fast Company. An effective remedy is sharing your worries with someone. You can confide in a coworker you trust, or step outside to call a friend or family member. Edward Hallowell, a leading expert on attention-deficit disorder and author of Driven To Distraction At Work: How To Focus And Be More Productive, told Evans, “The minute you talk to someone, your feeling of vulnerability goes down.”

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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3. THINK ABOUT THE BIGGER PICTURE

It’s easy to get bogged down in little to-dos when you have a long to-do list, but if lack of motivation is the reason why you’re distracted, you might want to turn your mind to your “role” priorities over your “task” priorities, Jane Porter previously wrote for Fast Company. This means thinking about whether the items on your to-do list move you forward in your role, or whether they’re merely admin time sucks like emails that probably bring out very little value (and don’t yield much results). When you can identify how your immediate tasks contribute to a much bigger goal, you’re more likely to want to make progress, which increases your motivation level, Porter wrote.

4. “OBSERVE” YOUR MIND WONDERING

Sometimes fighting distraction is a lost cause, and the best way to get your focus back is to let it happen and move on. When your lack of focus is due to lack of inspiration, this can be especially helpful. Shelley H. Carson, author of Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps To Maximize Imagination, Productivity And Innovation In Your Life, previously told Stephanie Vozza that being open to distraction “allows for the ability to take bits of information and combine them in novel ways that are useful or adaptive.” However, to reap the benefits, Carson said that we have to “look at them in a non-judgmental way.” Instead of beating yourself up about not being able to focus, embrace your busy thoughts and see what creative solutions it might bring.

5. DO SOMETHING ELSE FOR A LITTLE BIT

Multitasking gets a terrible rep, but sometimes it can be a great tool when monotasking is just not getting you anywhere. As Saunders previously wrote for Fast Company, “Some situations just aren’t meant for long stretches of unbroken focus.” The trick is to experiment what form of task switching helps you best. For Saunders, task switching motivates her to work through small and boring tasks. She gives herself permission to toggle between writing business emails and looking at her calendar tasks, or she’d alternate these administrative tasks with more “exciting” work (such as book marketing). Saunders wrote, “The promise of soon being able to do something fun helps me quit procrastinating on what’s not fun.”

 

 

FastCompany.com | March 30, 2018 | BY ANISA PURBASARI HORTON 3 MINUTE READ