Busy Sucks

Being busy sucks. Being productive rocks. Be energetically lazy. I see many people who confuse busy with effective. Don’t do it. It’s bad for your soul and your sense of purpose. And it makes you look like stupid. Trouble is, if you are in a position of leadership and you confuse busy with productive, before long everyone does. That makes you more than stupid. Much more.

Busy

Productive

They are not the same

Author: Doug Shaw

Artist and Consultant. Embracing uncertainty, sketching myself into existence. Helping people do things differently, through an artistic lens.

4 thoughts on “Busy Sucks”

  1. Good message Doug. Whenever I’ve helped train rookies in recruitment I’ve always told them that there’s a big difference between being busy and doing business, just because you achieve the former it doesn’t mean that the latter follows.
    Work smart!

    1. Hello Mervyn. Thanks for your comment. Strikes me that there’s a greater need than ever for less busy and more business, yet the evidence I see with my own eyes is the opposite is prevailing. Maybe it’s a misguided attempt at job justification? I do appreciate you popping by and sharing your perspective.

      Cheers – Doug

  2. To me it depends how you manage your time. If you schedule your priorities and fit in the other admin/stuff around them then you are both productive and busy. Your blog reminds me of the Bing Crosby song – Busy doing nothing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAYLD06MefI) – which is what a lot of people spend their time doing ie not focusing on actions that deliver their strategy (what I call making strategy reality). As Mervyn says work smart.
    I do quite a bit with companies and individuals on making strategy reality so for my sins I had to sing for my breakfast at the Chamber of Commerce last week so rather than sending out copies of the slides I blogged it. (http://www.sfmconsulting.co.uk/blog/2011/01/how-much-of-your-time-is-spent-profitably-2/)

    1. Thanks Sarah. You are a great example to me and others of keeping things productive. Prioritising is something else you also do well. Thanks for the link to your blog post I appreciate you sharing with us.

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