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The Psychotic World of a Busy Person

Boost Productivity by 66.4%

 

By Beverly Floyd

 

It’s cardio day!  You walk into the gym and head towards the wall lined with treadmills.  You scout around for the newest-looking apparatus – or at least one that looks thoroughly disinfected.  “A-Ha!  There’s the one!”  You race to it, beating all of your competitors to the mark.  You select your course, your speed, your incline, your duration and off you go!  The rubber beneath your feet starts to spin!

Let's pause this scenario for a  moment and ask ourselves this question:   

“Where are you going?” 

If you are a realist, then your answer will be “Nowhere.”  Although you will definitely exert energy, the swing of your arms will sync with the gait of your legs, you will become tired, thirsty, and sweaty – and you sure will smell as if you’ve been some place out of the ordinary – but the reality is, you aren't going anywhere at all.  For 20, perhaps 30 or even 40 minutes, you will be exactly where you are now.  The scenery won't change.  You can't even claim to have run a lap and come full circle.  You will merely run in place ... going nowhere fast.  But come on … what did you expect?  After all, the definitions for the words "Tread" and "Mill" are:

Tread:  (n) The part of a shoe sole that touches the ground or the part of a wheel or tire that makes contact with the road or rails; (v) to expend effort but make little or no progress to achievement of a goal or an end

Mill:  (n) A slow or laborious process; (v) to move around in churning confusion

Put those two words together and you have ... well ... revolving rubber.  Of course, I am not knocking the use of running on a treadmill for cardiovascular exercise.  The treadmill is simply my analogy of how “busy work” takes up time and energy, but gets you no further than where you’ve been standing all along.  Welcome to the psychotic world of a busy person!

The Psychotic World of a Busy Person

Have you ever noticed that busy people are always desperately scratching for time?  They utter statements like, “There’s just not enough time in the day!”  Or “I wish I had more time to do this or to do that!” 

Does that sound like you?  If so, we mean no offense, however, the next time you are dehydrated, gasping for air on the treadmill of life and those words are about to leap from the tip of your tongue, ask yourself this question:

Who is the Author of ‘Time’? 

If you believe the Author of Time is perfect, then you must also believe that the seconds, minutes and hours of each day are absolutely flawless.  If you agree with that statement, then you must realize that ‘Time’ has no shortcomings.  It is YOU, and your mismanagement of time that keeps coming up short.

A Busy Person vs. Business People

Busy people are always busy doing something

Business people are always busy doing something that counts

 

Busy people are reactive to their surroundings

Business people prioritize their activities and do not let routine interruptions derail their focus

 

Busy people lack attention and clarity because they are mentally and physically exhausted

Business people are high performers because they include time for daily rejuvenation

 

Busy people don’t know where time went and don’t see what they’ve accomplished

Business people can account for their time and the fruits of their labor are easily recognized.

TIME MASTERY OF AN EFFECTIVE WORKFORCE

Imagine the time and productivity lost if you managed a team of committed tread-millers, tread-milling three to five days each week, 30-minutes each day.  If you could reduce your staff's wasted time by just five minutes every hour, productivity would soar 66.4% per workday!  Performance levels would also rise as employees begin to devote more time completing critical, fruit bearing activities that:

• Meet project deadlines

• Serve more clients without added resources

• Pursue opportunities and generate more business

Imagine the impact if you were to help your employees organize their priorities and manage their time. 

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