Being “Busy”

A wonderful New York Times article entitled “The ‘Busy’ Trap” is my inspiration.  As someone who has long hated the word “busy” it was a must-read.

A wonderful New York Times article entitled “The ‘Busy’ Trap” is my inspiration.  As someone who has long hated the word “busy” it was a must-read.

What are your top goals and priorities for your career, your firm, or your life?  What did you do today to move toward one of those goals?

When you realize that you can’t fit everything into your day that you’d like to do, or you are, once again, skipping out on networking, making a prospective client call, setting-up lunch with a client’s banker, mentoring a junior staff, or whatever other marking activity you have on your list, don’t brush past this and use “busy” as your reason.

Somehow being “busy” has become a synonym to being “important.”  Busy not only doesn’t mean “important,” it doesn’t even mean “productive.”  I know people who can spend an entire “busy” day with only raised blood pressure to show for it.  The next time someone asks “How are you?” try to answer with something more meaningful than “busy!”

To extend this theory beyond work’s “To Do” list, this leads me to question how we all go about prioritizing. With many of us carrying one or more phones with us at all times, work now has 100% access to our lives.  Think about the last time you saw an “away message” on someone’s email auto-reply saying they are on vacation with limited access to email.  Do you even believe it?  More often than not, I’ve found that I receive a reply to my note within hours.  My question is “Why doesn’t life have 100% access to our lives?” If work keeps creeping into our nights, can life creep into our days?  Are we ready to step away from the 9-5?

At the Bentley Center for Women in Business event in April 2012, one of the speakers, Betsy Meyers, encouraged the audience to have an “Integrated Life Plan.”  This meant that priorities were thoughtfully considered, set to paper, and communicated with work and family such that when decisions need to be made, the list of priorities is consulted to determine the proper course of action.  For example, one of my top Integrated Life priorities is sailing on Thursday evenings in the summer.  This means I decline all Thursday night networking events and social invitations.  So, while I enjoy being “active” and “social” and “productive,” I now try to think of “busy” as another “four letter word” and remove it from my vocabulary.

PS – As my accounting clients and friends come to the close of another “Busy Season” I implore you to finish strong and respond to your clients asking “How are you?” with “great and looking for more clients like you” before the useless and negative word “busy” escapes your mouth unconsciously.  If that’s not enough to inspire you, in 2006 I renamed “Busy Season” at the CPA firm I worked for as “Opportunity Season” and we won an “Innovation Award” from Practical Accountant magazine.  What would you rename “Busy Season” as to put a fresh perspective on it?  CPAs see their clients more in the first four months than the rest of the year combined.  Use it wisely!