Here’s a great question to ask yourself frequently, particularly when you find yourself struggling to keep your head above the water handling lots of projects and activities in either your business life, your personal life, or both. Are you busy or are you busy being busy?
A few years ago I had the opportunity to report directly to an owner of our company who today I’m proud to call one of my mentors. At the time, it wasn’t always sunshine and roses. We were in the early days of a merger and my plate was full. One morning he called and opened with the typical “how’s it going?” My response was partly a reaction and probably more of a statement of fact that I was overwhelmed with much to do. I simply responded, “I’m busy.” He calmly asked me “are you busy or are you busy being busy?”
At the moment, I’m sure I wanted to scream. Over the years I fell into this trap with him several times. Today I realize the wisdom in that question. I needed to evaluate how I was spending my time, on what, and was I putting in the quality of effort it deserved.
In my work as an internal coach for my company, I get the privilege to help young people begin their careers. For many, this is their first “real” job. Most have come from jobs where they weren’t responsible for making decisions about how they spent their time. Now as they enter sales and leadership roles they struggle at times to get it all done and to achieve expected results. I now use this question to help them as it once and continues to help me.
Here are 3 key ideas that may help you.
How are you spending your time? 80% of our activity likely contributes 20% of our results. It’s referred to as the Pareto principle. That also means 20% of our activity contributes most of our results. Understand what those 20% activities are and work towards increasing the amount of time you spend on them. In sales, income producing activities only occur when you are face-to-face with a perspective new customer. Everything else supports this. Reading the training manual for example is important but it is not an income-producing activity. Often, we resist those activities which give us most of our results because they are hard. We prefer easier tasks that don’t necessarily lead directly to results.
What are you spending your time on? Now that you have identified the high priority activities, create a plan for your day, week, and month that reflects your understanding. Most people need a plan. Following the plan means keeping track of measurable items. You need a continuous and visible view of how you are doing. Make it a habit to check this feedback loop regularly to ensure you are operating with intentionality.
How is the quality of effort that you are giving to those activities that are most important? Showing up and going through the motions is not enough. Tackle the hard things that make a difference early in your day while your energy is high and your resolve strong. In sales, the income producing activities are often repetitive. There is a tendency over time to just check them off the list. Don’t be a zombie. Put your very best effort into these important activities.
Are you busy or are you busy being busy? Reach out to me if you need some help with spending more of your time doing the 20% activities that lead to 80% of your results.