I Dare you to NOT Glorifying Busy

Have you ever noticed that when someone asks “How are you?” people respond, “Busy”.

I am as guilty as anyone using this answer.  Not that I am lying. I AM truly BUSY!  But is that really what someone is asking? Or have we just become a society of always moving and going that we cannot even answer with a simple. I am fine and how are you?

I love being busy! I admit to being one of “those” people. I have always had things on my To Do list and I consider myself a slacker if I do not get them all done. At the end of the day, I am already creating my busy To Do list for the next day.

What is it that drives me to be busy? Is it a society that glorifies being busy?  After doing some limited research I found American’s work harder than their peers in most all other similar countries.  My guess it is part of the American way of thinking. We work harder to achieve more and to have more. Which makes me wonder are we really accomplishing that? I have traveled to many of these peer countries and I visited families similar to my own and they had similar lifestyles to my own, yet they worked fewer hours per week and took longer more relaxing vacations. So, I had to again wonder is productivity we seek or do we just glorify busy.

My next thought was; are we more stressed than other countries? From the limited research I did, we are more stressed. According to this article, the key reason was American’s try to fit a lot into their days so we have fuller lives. Ummmm….Are we just shooting ourselves in the foot? Cutting our nose to spite our face? Have we become a culture of busy = success and relaxed or paced = lazy and unsuccessful? For me, the busy has become my badge of honor that I work hard and have earned my home, car and vacation. Which leads me wonder is anyone really watching my glorified busy? Somedays I think I gotta slow down. Then the To Do list mentality kicks in and I have so much I HAVE to get done, that I drive myself mad trying to get it accomplished. Only to be exhausted and still have more to do.

This survey looked only at affluent consumers, and not at other people in these countries, and they found that affluent consumers in the U.S. were the most stressed.

  Percentage of people’s stress levels several times a week per Country.
           Global            55%
           USA               66%
           Australia         63%
           Japan             60%
           Canada          58%
           UK                  54%
           France            54%
           Mexico            51%
           Italy                49%
           Germany        42%
           Brazil              35%
           Hong Kong     31%

Americans also work the longest hours. Again see the connection to busy?  

Tips I Dare myself to do to reduce my “busy”

1.)  Take lunch away from my desk at least 2 days a week. I know I should do this daily. (Baby steps to 5 days a week)

2.)  Create the To Do Lists. I do one for personal one for professional-getting all the things out of my head usually allows more space in there to plan and develop strategies to accomplish all those great ideas without feeling frantic.   

3.)  Reduce the number of items on my To Do list daily. Instead of making a daily To Do list with 10 must do items. I commit to 1-5 items-which allows me to take a breath during the day and deal with the inevitable whirlwind that demands my attention during the day.

4.)  Make my To Do list late on Sunday after reviewing my calendar. Do I really have time for all this stuff?

5.)  Instead of automatically answering the question “How are you?” with “Busy!”  I answer “I’m fine” or “Terrific”. By not focusing my response as “busy” I shift my thoughts to being fine or terrific. Life is a mental game we play every day. Our words matter whether we say them to ourselves or others. 

6.)  Reflection on my priorities, “Does more stuff crammed into my day really equal a fuller life, more success?”

7.)  Learn to say “No” For me, this is one of the hardest things to do. I want to do everything that sounds like fun or could potentially help my career. Be selective and objective when saying “Yes”.  

 I dare you to stop glorifying busy in your life. Now stop and really do it! You’ll thank me later.

I DARE You to never stop learning

For nearly 5 years I have been planning and executing a yearlong Leadership Academy for folks wanting to develop their opportunities to move into Leadership roles within their careers, volunteer and personal lives. Every year I have around 20 candidates participate in a monthly day-long training. I hire, beg and trade favors to have leaders come and present to the candidates. I even do a couple sessions myself one on Generations in the Workplace and One on Leaders Handling a Media Request. 

When other presenters come in I sit through their presentation. At this point, I have heard just about every presenter 4 times or more and without fail I gain something I had missed the previous time they presented. Over the past couple years I try to bring some busy work to be a little productive, but every time I find myself drawn into the conversation and I get very little of my busy work done. 

Today was no exception the topic was Ethics. Yikes, I know BORING, right?! Not at all this gentleman Dr. Fred Rainquet is terrific and I have heard him present 4 times and I have enjoyed it every time. So what does this tell me? I'm a bit weird, well I don't deny that, but I think it has more to do with my deep belief that no matter your age you should never stop learning. Real leaders know there is always something more or a better way to accomplish a goal and with each class, book or seminar is a tool that may uncover itself to make you a better, stronger and effective leader.

I have always loved to learn from childhood through adulthood. There was a very brief time after I left "traditional" education that I was sure I didn't need to learn anymore because I was an "adult". Now that is FUNNY. Fortunately, for me, every day continues to be a new learning experience. First, in my career it was computers and how quickly they changed, then being a supervisor as I found out this type of leadership was not intuitive and I headed for Manager Training. My Mom skills work great, but some days grown-up skills are required in management situations. Some situations require more than a cookie to fix them although even with adults cookies can mend a good many things. Then the internet went wild and along came social media and my learning continued and continues daily. 

I really never plan to stop attending seminars or reading new books on leadership or social media or success. Even as a gray-haired lady I plan to continue that pursuit for knowledge. It is what keeps our brains supple and sharp. A Huffington Post/TED Talk holds the proof that humans can indeed grow new brain cells, this process is called neurogenesis. The way we grow those brain cells back is by learning new things. Pushing past that moment when it gets hard to understand that is when the brain cells are growing.  I know without a doubt I have killed many, many brain cells over the years. My only hope to stay slightly sane is to continue to learn and grow more of those brain cells.Now, I know this is possible and learning new things helps that regrowth. I Dare you to never stop learning new things and to continue to push the boundaries of what your mind can hold and regrow those brain cells.