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articles about time management.
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Being Busy Does Not Equal Being
Productive
By Gary Simpson
How many people do you know who are so busy being busy that they never seem
to get anything worthwhile done? Does that describe you, maybe even just a
little bit?
Being busy all the time, through necessity, is a curse. Being busy all the
time, for the sake of it, is madness.
Continual busyness eventually leads to stress, particularly if results are
minimal. You see, it will get to a point where something has to give way.
It's like filling a balloon with air. Eventually no more air will fit inside
the balloon and it will do the only thing it can. It will burst.
It's OK to have busy periods through each day, each week, each month and
each year. However, you also need time to relax. Time to re-charge the
batteries.
People who are continuously busy over long periods suffer from two main
problems:
1 - they have difficulty saying "no" to anyone
2 - they have difficulty delegating tasks to others
Let's look at each in turn.
First, those who cannot say "no." I have a saying: "You can't save the
entire world." No matter how good your intentions are, you cannot be
everything to everyone.
Make a list of those who need and deserve your time. They are the one's you
should give priority to. Anyone else comes next - if you have the time to
spare.
A wise man once said, "work always expands to fit available time." It's
true. But it is only true if you allow it to happen.
You can always do the odd favor for someone on the odd occasion. Learn to
say no in a nice way. Here is one such way: "If I get all my own work done,
I will consider your request." What does that really say? It says your work
is important. If you get it done you will help. Naturally, if you cannot get
it done you cannot help. It's a soft way of saying no. Usually the asker
will then go and find another person to ask.
By saying no you actually help other people to grow. Imagine if you always
said yes to tying up your daughter's shoe laces. If you never said no she
would still be asking you to do it at twenty years of age. By saying no you
make her learn to do it for herself. Remember the old saying about giving a
hungry person a fish to eat versus teaching the hungry person how to catch
their own fish to eat?
By saying no we can free up more time for ourselves and those who need or
deserve our time the most. Do not become a slave.
Turning to the second problem, delegation - learn to enlist others to
perform tasks that they are better equipped, or have more time, to do.
If you run all over the place attempting to do everything yourself you will
never have sufficient time to do anything properly. Delegation is the art of
a true leader. The secret to successful delegation is to build the
importance of the task into the mind of the person you are delegating it to.
Then, when they do it, thank them and praise them sincerely for the things
they did well.
Don't ever think you are irreplaceable, particularly at your employment.
Somebody gave me a definition once of irreplaceability in the workforce. It
went something like this: "Get a bucket of water, roll up your sleeve and
thrust your arm into the water. Now pull your arm out. The time it takes for
the water to settle back into position will be about the same time it will
take to replace you!"
Learning to say no and being able to delegate will allow you to perform the
tasks you really want to do and really need to do yourself at a much higher
level of proficiency.
AL Williams wrote a book called "All You Can Do is All You Can Do But All
You Can Do is Enough!" (ISBN: 0-8041-0499-9). Catchy title, isn't it?
In his book, Williams says: "Don't worry about things you can't change.
Focus on making your part of the world better, because when they click your
lights out for the last time, you can't have any regrets."
Like I said earlier - you can't save the whole world. Don't even try.
If you want to be more productive,
try to re-organize the way you plan your
time. You can do this by:
1 - making a list of things requiring your attention
2 - prioritizing the list
3 - doing essential things first, non-essential things last
4 - after every third task, rewarding yourself in some small way
5 - continue to work your way through the list in sets of three
At the end of the day review your list. This is important because it will
allow you to see how much you have done and achieved. Achievement will drive
you forward to more achievement.
So, now you don't have to be busy, busy, busy and get little done. You can
just be busy achieving what you want.
About the author:
Gary Simpson is the author of eight books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Gary's email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his
Motivation & Self Esteem for Success website where you can receive his "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book "The Power of Choice."
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