Hack
Hack: Getting Beyond Busy. Radical measures - when being too busy is killing leadership
by Loretta Brown - Director at New Zealand Coaching and Mentoring Centre
December 25, 2011 at 9:24amContribution Summary
Summary
Being “too busy” can’t be fixed by better time management, by just taking a break or by learning meditation. It can’t be resolved by working harder or longer. Questioning, “should I stay or should I go” is often a red herring.
Bright people have tried lots of strategies to manage work and life better. Answers won’t be found in a quick-fix bag of tricks. Getting beyond busy requires a more fundamental and radical reassessment of direction and purpose. Leaders have to challenge the wider culture of work.
Moonshot(s)
Problem
The whirling, chaotic, hiccupping, whizzing, backtracking, stop-starting days.
High stimulus, constantly “on”.
Distracted, pulled here and there.
Building up over time, year in and year out.
Burdens and deadlines. Straining and pulling.
No time to think... No time to feel...
Just the next task...
Get it done... get it done now.
This is urgent!
Reaching for the phone for one last call.
Work to do at home, long into the night.
People have too much to do. Busy is killing leadership. Most professionals cannot hand on heart, imagine continuing working this way for much longer. Something has to give.
Leaving to go to a new organisation is often an attempt to escape an untenable scenario, a hoped for better situation where it will be easier to rise above the torrent. A fantasy indeed. The serial leadership pattern hides the costs and preserves the appearance of coping. Look more closely. Coping (let alone thriving) is often a temporary experience. This is not just executive exhaustion or burnout. It is more widespread than that. Work/life balance is a near impossibility. Work productivity strategies have little relevance for most. Few people are talking about it publically, only admitting the challenges to spouses, therapists or good friends.
Solution
This guide is for the “normally exhausted”, anyone who has reached their limit and is not willing to carry on as usual. People are creating wonderful lives beyond busy, feeling new joy and having more impact too. Here you are offered some ideas, some rousing thoughts and some stories of real people.
Six bold pathways are presented:
These pathways have helped countless people set the compass to create a life beyond busy. There will never be a right time to start. The opportunity is now.
1. Tell the truth about our ways of working
2. Create a courageous “pause”
3. Get some fight back
4. Discover your purpose
5. Craft new paths
6. Persevere
Challenges
People blame themselves. Overburdened executives feel ashamed of not coping, trying to out-do the exhaustion. Tenaciously returning from leave with renewed determination to get on top of things, only to be overwhelmed within a few weeks.
Some people wonder if their fraught work life is a consequence of aging. Others think they are having a midlife crisis or question their mental health. Most professionals don’t have time to reflect on anything at all, just keeping their heads down, glad to reach the end of the day without failing in too public a way.
Being too busy is not just an individual issue. It’s not only a consequence of an economic recession. This is a widespread social issue. Normalization is the process of making bewildering things seem normal. Everyone has got good at ignoring the little messages that tell us we might be collectively heading off course. The point of balance has been lost and no one knows how to get it back.
Telling the truth can paint a dismal picture. But acknowledging the reality is vital. It is a necessary step that will provide the impetus to make strong changes.
First Steps
Six bold pathways are presented:
These pathways have helped countless people set the compass to create a life beyond busy. There will never be a right time to start. The opportunity is now.
1. Tell the truth about our ways of working
2. Create a courageous “pause”
3. Get some fight back
4. Discover your purpose
5. Craft new paths
6. Persevere
Tags
Time management
Work-life balance
Work-life balance
Helpful Materials
Comments
Loretta Brown
January 4, 2012 at 11:40amHi Bernd
Thank you so much for reading my e-book and sharing an except. (Yes, we have no patience for idle chatter)
Wow, there are parallels with the Blakeman themes. I'd like to think this indicates tapping into somewhat of a zeitgeist!
All the best for a less busy and a focused new year. I like this advice from Chris Brogan who encourages us to identify just three words as a theme for the year. http://www.chrisbrogan.com/3words2012/ I am working on mine...
Loretta
Loretta Brown
January 4, 2012 at 11:48amThank you for the sweet acknowledgment. I is always nice to hear that one is one the right track! :-)
Susanne Bachmann
December 25, 2011 at 1:07amCouldn't agree more with Loretta's summary. This is exactly what the work situation looks like nowadays. Something has to change, or something will give.
Loretta Brown
January 4, 2012 at 11:46amHi Susanne
Thank you very much for your supportive comment. So that "something" that has to change is an interesting one. I encourage us all to work out what that something is... it inevitably lays within deeply personal decisions and wider cultural change interventions. But the answer is so personal to each one of us. What might your "something" be?
Sorry, once a coach always a coach!
Loretta
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Bernd Nurnberger
January 4, 2012 at 12:33amYes, 1, 2, 3 are essential, thank you for sharing your beautiful eBook. I like this:
"Test out new things, following your nose. Speak when you don’t know what you are
going to say, and be amazed what comes out of your mouth. You may have no
patience for idle chatter and everyday banter about busy things. You want the real
talking to start, the magic moments when people really open up and share
themselves. Track down things that light you up. Connect with people who are less
busy and more alive."
It happens like magic indeed when people connect and can afford to drop defenses. When we listen deeply, and understand, we augment each other's intelligence. It works in the same room and across continents, by sight and sound alone (Skype or other video tool).
For 4, 5, 6, I see parallels in Making Money is Killing Your Business by Chuck Blakeman.
4. Discover your purpose - The Big Why
5. Craft new paths - Simple Processes
6. Persevere - Staying On Track and Avoiding “Average”