Being busy being busy – why busyness can sometimes mean avoiding the awkward thing on your todo list

It’s time for honesty. Who has recently either said the phrase “I’m just really too busy right now” at work? Or heard it said by a colleague or a friend? 

Or even feels, having read this first sentence, too busy to read the rest of this blog? 

Google’s Dictionary [I was under too much pressure writing this blog to find a different source] describes busyness as being “the state or condition of having a great deal to do.” And it’s true that we all in business often appear to have too much to do. 

I’ve had the privilege over the recent years to work and interact with a large number of individuals working in companies over a wide variety of industries. 

And one thing that has often struck me during a workshop exercise such as “describe your role at work”. People are very very very busy. All the time. 

Understanding the root causes of busyness

But are we workers really as busy as we claim? Is this actually always the case? Because I've been wondering whether being busy is actually a state that we sometimes enjoy, appreciate or find satisfying.

And so perhaps the question us busy people should be asking is actually this.

Why do we all have ‘a great deal to do’? Is there just too much to do? Or, could it be [he whispers] that sometimes the collective we sinks back into the routine of being ‘too busy’ in order to avoid doing some of the things on our lists that we don’t want to do. 

Perhaps because they are hard / boring / new / challenging [delete or add more as appropriate]? 

Too busy to stop being busy

Maybe I’m being over dramatic here. Too sarcastically British. But I think it’s important that we ask ourselves this question from time to time. For, if we’re all too busy all the time, how will we ever find the time to work out a way of stopping being too busy? 

Now, I’m not going to pretend that I have the answers or power to help with this right here in this blog. Changing business culture, enabling you to get more resource to help with tasks, working effectively through delegation or just communicating more effectively is definitely too much to expect here.

But what about doing a quick experiment? Take 30 seconds to consider the reasons why you’re always so busy. And perhaps think about what might allow you to change this. Maybe there’s a simple action that would change things for the better. 

And if you think someone you know might enjoy this blog. But that they’re likely to be too busy and would never find time to read it. Well. What can I say? Perhaps it’s a good place to start.