Go from being busy to being productive

HOW are you? ‘Busy busy’ is so often the response these days.

Some of us wear it as a badge of honour as being busy can give a sense of importance in the moment But being busy all the time can so easily ends up with us being busy fools.

It is helpful it ask yourself: ‘Am I busy doing things that are important to me and helping me get where I really want to go in life? Does how I spend my time align with my priorities and responsibilities?’

Interestingly, they say that super successful people say ‘no’ to 90 percent of what is put in from of them.

Why busy?

Being busy can give us a short-lived sense accomplishment and a feeling of being part of life which is a step up from not feeling that. However it does not bring success or fulfilment.

Being busy is more about doing more activities while being productive is about working smarter and getting what is important done, ultimately bringing about a greater sense of fulfilment and achievement,.

Being busy can often lead to chaotic while being productive is focused. Being busy is often fuelled by perfectionism–a sense of wanting to be good at things and do everything, whilst being productive is fuelled by a deeper sense of purpose

Here are 5 key ways to help you move from being busy to being productive?

1. Prioritize what is important to you. Write them down and have objectives and action items related to what is important.

2. Identify the excuses you use to not do things that push you out of your comfort zone. Growth only comes when we are pushed out of our comfort zone.

3. At the end of a working day, write down the five most important things for you to do following day. Take 5 minutes at the end of each day to reflect on how you did. If things are not getting down, learn why and make change so they do. Be self-honest.

4. Do the stressful or most important things first. As they say, eat the frog first thing. When we prioritize well in this way, the brain becomes trained to do what is important first and it becomes a habit. They say that 50 percent of the actions we take on a daily basis are habitual. We can have good and bad ones. A little bit of planning and consistency can ensure good habits over time.

5. Connect with your inner-stillness every day. When you slow down, you bring a fresh mind to whatever you do. This can be done through meditation or relaxation practices like meditation or yoga nidra. It also gives us space to discern when we should say no, so we don’t end up with so many monkeys around our neck slowing us down. Many people get a sense of satisfaction from doing lists. We can also get an artificial sense of satisfaction from telling others how busy we are. True satisfaction will come from living our purpose which is more about being productive and effective than filling time with ‘busyness’.

Those that seek perfection often end up being very busy. The desire to have a ‘perfect life’ can easily push us to take on more things so that we do a bit of everything instead at doing a few things really well. When we master one thing, it is easy to replicate.

Next time you find yourself saying ‘busy’ – that is a sure-sign you need to slow down, assess and look at 1 - 5.

Calodagh McCumiskey designs and delivers bespoke wellbeing at work programmes to grow people and companies. She also offers regular meditation classes, personal development workshops and wellbeing consultations to help people thrive

053 9140655 | info@spiritualearth.com | www.spiritualearth.com