Too Busy for Your Own Good (6 page)

“The world is a mess. If we don't save it, who will?”
You're searching for your legacy. Much of your busyness is probably a part of your efforts to make a mark on the world, something that says, “I was here, and I made a difference.” At the core of your ultra-busy lifestyle is the heartfelt need to be significant. You live in a prosperous country with unlimited choices and the freedom to be whatever you want to be, and so you're going for it. Dear friend, this is a noble reason, but when you sacrifice other important parts of your life for the sake of your legacy, what have you gained? It is possible to take control of your busyness and still be significant.

Just because you know
why
you're so busy doesn't mean you've got an excuse to continue on your collision course
to burnout. De-busifying is survival in today's world. It's a skill that allows your awareness of being too busy—and your ability to influence your level of busyness—to change significantly. Every time you reject the speed and intensity of which you've been living your life, you have de-busified. Take a look at the following list of pairs. Every time you choose the first over the last, you have de-busified:

Peace over stress

Balance over imbalance

Happiness over sadness

Simplification over complication

Love over anger

Function over dysfunction

Joy over gloom

Ease over pain

Relationships over disharmony

Satisfaction over frustration

It's not hard to tell when the de-busification has begun to work. When you de-busify, your thoughts will be optimistic, the words you say will have hope, your body will be loose and comfortable. Also, your employees will reflect and model your cheerful, good-natured disposition, and relationships with your family and friends will be more joyous and agreeable. But, best of all, you'll
be
a better person—from the inside out. In order to get there, though, you may have to abandon some of the excuses that people commonly use to justify their busyness.

Everywhere you look you see busy people—rushed, harried, hassled, and exhausted. As you can probably tell by now,
I'm worried about them. I'm worried that they think their “busy” is going to get them what they want and need.

I'm worried that they make excuses for their busyness. These excuses are a halfhearted effort to explain why “busy” really isn't their fault. Making excuses is an obstacle to controlling busyness when they're made in place of earnest attempts to make the situation better. When you stop making excuses, you'll start making good.

Not true! You may believe you don't have enough time because you probably underestimate how long a task takes and overestimate how much you have to do. While it is true that you don't have time to do
everything
, you do have the same twenty-four hours in each day that Thomas Edison had. Time management starts with life management. Articulate your principles, values, and your mission in life, and then prioritize your activities accordingly.

Prioritize your to-do list and handle your high-value activities first so that unimportant busyness doesn't take over your life. The adage, “If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything,” applies here. Stand up for something valuable and align your activities with your principles. Ask yourself, “What am I doing right now?” and “Is it in line with my values and what I believe to be important?” If you don't get to the end of your list, so what? You're living with purpose.

Busted! You don't have to look very far to see a jogger on his cell phone or the woman driving while eating lunch, on a conference call, and checking her makeup. We're all
guilty of trying to shave time here and there. While doing so might save a few minutes, it can be downright dangerous to yourself and others. It's evident when people on the other end of the phone are distracted by replying to their e-mail or focused on some other busywork. You ask whether they're still on the line, and their responses sound disconnected and distant. When you're engaged in two or more tasks at once, you are not fully present for any of them.