The Crazy Busy Cure
Leadership coach and author Zena Everett sets out how we can all find more time, no matter how hectic life seems
‘Many of us get lost in being busy; so much so that it’s stopping us from building the lives we want. What we need, when this happens, is what I call “ruthless priorities” – identifying the things we absolutely can’t do without. It could be exercising outdoors every day for our mental health, or having dinner at least three nights a week as a family. By anchoring ourselves with these practical values, we can start to work out an action plan.’
JUST SAY NO
‘Women especially are bad at saying no. But by re-educating ourselves in terms of how we focus our time, we can make a noticeable difference. Think about how many meetings you have each day, for example. If two were taken out each week, you would probably get about three hours to yourself. In that time you could go swimming, or write, or do whatever it is your values are pointing you towards.
‘The world’s digitisation means we’ve fallen into a tendency of always being “on”, but there are non-essential things that can be taken out. We have to start being assertive, pushing back, slowing down and focusing on fewer things. “Fewer but fiercer” is what I tell my clients.’
FIND YOUR FLOW
‘Flow is a state of intense concentration that turbo-charges our productivity. The idea behind it is that when we are deeply concentrating, lost in our work, we feel and perform at our best. In fact, a 10-year study by management consultants Mckinsey & Company has shown that if we could all increase the time we spend in Flow by 15-20%,
overall workplace productivity would almost double. Think about the difference that would make!
‘However, a lot of us are guilty of switch-tasking, flitting between emails and tasks, with no time to get into this Flow state. That means we’re getting our tasks done, but we have this low-level anxiety all the time nibbling away at us. To find Flow, identify a task you need to do (an important and specific task, not just general admin) and block out Flow time with a prompt to begin it, such as a timer. I tend to give myself a 45-minute block, with a notification pinging at the start and the end, so I know I can’t overrun. Find a quiet corner, put your phone in a different room and crack on, regardless of whether you’re in the mood to start or not; your mood will catch up. Aim for 90 minutes to two hours a day in Flow.’
WORK TO YOUR OWN CIRCADIAN RHYTHM
‘Think about what time of day you are at your most productive, and use this to your advantage. It’s about being really intentional and making choices based on your awareness of yourself. By taking more control over your tasks and understanding when you can get your best work done, you’ll be amazed at how much time you save.’
DO ONE THING AT A TIME ‘Multitasking slows you, and everyone else, down. Your brain can only concentrate on one significant task at a time. When you think you’re multitasking, you’re actually just switching from one activity to another.
You waste time trying to work out where you had got to on the original activity. For instance, if you pause and reply to a Whatsapp message mid-task, you tend to do two other things on your phone before you put it down again and carry on – and by then, you forget what you were doing. So pick your priority, complete it, then move on to the next thing.’
UNDERSTAND YOUR ‘SHADOW SIDE’
‘All strengths, when overused, have a shadow side. The traits and behaviours that put you on the fast track can also become detrimental and start to hold you back. For example, you might be a high performer who takes on more responsibility than your peers, but as a result, you struggle to trust others because you always think you could do a better job. Equally, you might be a very caring person who puts others’ needs before your own, but then you take on too much and can’t cope with all the demands because you struggle to set boundaries.
‘The most common trait I see in women is perfectionism – and its shadow side, procrastination. We might delay doing something rather than risk a less-than-perfect performance when, in fact, if we gave ourselves the time to think through a task and then structured our time properly, we would move things along without the extra stress. By understanding the potential weaknesses within our strengths, we can see our blind spots and learn to manage them accordingly.’