Please stop wearing "busy" as a badge of honor.
You know the conversation as you run into an old friend.
They ask, "How's life?"
And you say, "Busy!"
And you walk away, smugly proud.
Stop it. You run the risk of being too busy to lead.
If you are a leader, read this piece by Dina Kaplan and then eliminate all the fluff in your life that is making you busy. Here are 5 things you can eliminate or cut back on in your life right now to make you less "busy":
- Scrolling through Instagram or Facebook hourly
- Keeping up with more than one TV show at a time
- Taking five minutes to write an email when a one-minute phone call would get the job done
- Lying in bed for any amount of extra time once your mind and body are alert and ready for the day
- Keeping up with too much information (instead of letting the right information find you)
It's crucial that leaders aren't busy. Otherwise, leaders begin to say no or not have time for the actual tasks and opportunities that define leadership itself. Here are 10 things leaders cannot be too busy for:
- Reading
- Motivating team members
- Working on long term strategy
- Attending to others' needs
- Meeting new people that could grow or transform the company
- Self care (therapy, meditation, working out)
- Critical analysis (of self and the company)
- Taking time to determine what is a crisis and what isn't
- Mentorship and learning
- Deep and vulnerable non-work relationships
Leaders: take the time and effort to set up a schedule and routine that allows you the time to do the work of leadership. Otherwise, you'll be too busy too lead.