“How are you?” I asked two C-suite executives I reconnected with at a conference recently.
“Stressed” they chimed in unison.
“Busy” one quickly asserted.
“Busy is an understatement” the other added, just to make sure I got it.
“Well it doesn’t have to be that way you know …”
I was about to launch into the benefits of mindfulness meditation in managing stress, but paused when I noticed the looks on their faces.
“You know where we work?” one pronounced as a statement rather than a question, the other nodding in agreement.
I realised in that moment that they experience great pride and satisfaction in their busyness, and their ability to fit in with an organisational culture that rewards and venerates busyness.
For a long time, there has been an epidemic of busyness at the workplace characterised by stress, overwhelm and burnout. The pandemic with its dramatic unforeseen changes made it worse. And now the post-pandemic with its dramatic unforeseen changes, and uncertainty of things going back to normal has made it even worse. Coupled with external uncertainty is the fear people have about their job – will it still exist? How at risk am I? And the big question:
Am I redundant?
And so, people resort to being or giving the impression of being busy, for fear that if they appear to be calm, have time on their hands, be in control of things, then maybe, just maybe they are demonstrating that they are dispensable.
The Harvard Business Review March/April 2023 issue declares on its cover: “The Busyness Trap: Activity is not a Metric for Success”, layered on an illustration of a hive of bees. But bees are not busy doing nothing – a hive is a highly organized unit of production, with each bee knowing what it’s to do, and the ultimate endgame. Bees are not busy for the sake of appearing busy.
In his article, “Beware a Culture of Busyness” Adam Waytz cites research that shows that “People perceive others who are busy . to be important and impressive” and “Work, not leisure is now the signifier of dominant social status”. Busyness is now something to be aspire to! But he goes further to highlight the danger of holding busyness as a virtue: “Busyness harms the bottom line by reducing staff engagement and increasing absenteeism”. Rewarding busyness is a great example of “Culture eating strategy for lunch”.
I agree that we need a serious organisational magnifying glass on this problem of busyness. It is unsustainable and dangerous to individuals and the organisation. First, as a leader you must check your own busyness. Ask yourself:
When I say I am busy how do I feel? Do I feel a sense of smug pride and satisfaction? Or am I feeling angry, upset? Or a mix of positive and negative emotions? This will surface you own inner perspective on busyness.
When I look at my calendar each day is it chock full of meetings that were sent by others and which I really don’t need to attend? Technology that allows others to put appointments straight into our calendars was meant to be helpful, but have the effect of overcrowding them, without our knowledge or consent.
When I look at my To Do list are there tasks that have been left unattended for months? If they are so important, why haven’t you attended to them?
How do I feel when I see a team member doing nothing? Do I immediately assume they are wasting time, or slacking off? Do I feel to “crack the whip”?
In my Leadership Coaching programs, the most challenging exercise I give my coachees is based on Stephen Covey’s Priority Matrix in which he maps urgency and importance. It’s a very simple tool. Typically, there is great resistance to doing it. Of course – they’re busy and don’t have the time! But the insights when they do (with much cajoling and accountability-holding), and we analyse the results together are phenomenal – suddenly, they see why they are so busy. They are spending an inordinate amount of time in the Urgency boxes, rather than in the Important/Not Urgent quadrant.
There are 24 hours in each day. By our actions, we consciously or unconsciously choose how we spend our time. The more aware and honest we are about our busyness, the greater will be our ability to focus on our priorities, and get the important work done.
Perhaps a great question to ask yourself each morning, and throughout the day would be:
“If I weren’t so busy, what would I be focusing on?“
And then do that. Once you are done, you can always choose to go back to being busy.
