Are you guilty of being “Ms. Busy-Important”?

Are you constantly on the go, juggling your business, partner, kids, friends, and volunteering? Are there never enough hours in the day?

Does this sound familiar to you? From the moment the alarm clock rings, you’re on the move. Skipping breakfast or wolfing down a granola bar on the way to work, hurrying to put makeup on while waiting in traffic, facing a brimming inbox at eight a.m., frantically looking for those important documents before a meeting… and on it goes.

For many years that was me.

I felt good knowing that I can do all those things and juggle many projects and wear many hats only to find out that this “Ms. Busy-Important” is not getting me closer to my goals and actually not allowing me to enjoy the fullness of life.

If you are still not sure if you are playing that game let me ask you – Have you also had one of those days where you feel like it was a busy and productive day only to realize at 5 o’clock that you checked nothing off your to-do list and instead spent the entire day accomplishing nothing important?

It’s as if you’ve been doing what I call the “Tango-Dance” work – one step forward two steps backward… Now, instead of being one step ahead, you start the next day two steps behind.

If you had those days – you are guilty of playing this game of “Ms. Busy-Important“. This habit of being “Ms. Busy-Important” is one of the most destructive entrepreneurial habits.

When you work that way it looks as IF you are working, but you are not. You are substituting REAL work by doing work that does not lead you towards your goals. Work like – cleaning up your desk, reorganizing your files, and redoing anything, multitasking between the different hats that you are wearing. All this takes you away from your productive time.

When you work under the influence of “Ms. Busy-Important” it requires real effort and real resources, just like real work does. But the result is that at the end of the day you have not done anything substantial and worse… you know it and it feels… SH*T!

Why do we do it?

Almost every time I catch myself falling into this trap of “Ms. Busy-Important” I’m procrastinating, like answering a nasty email, making a call, finishing a blog post I am struggling with for a week or writing a strategic plan…

How do you know whether you are playing “Ms. Busy-Important”?

Anytime you are doing something that doesn’t move your business forward you are playing that game.

The most common ‘criminals’ are administrative tasks, tidying your office, social media engagement and extended meetings or conference calls. All of them are probably necessary but, for one reason or another, turn from productive to destructive.

Take administrative tasks as an example. You have to handle a certain amount of administrative duties, even if you manage to outsource most of them. However each time you decide to do the administrative tasks instead of doing productive work or you tend to spend on it more time than is needed that’s when you are playing that game.

The same goes for social media interaction and extended meetings. Both are necessary components of business, but when your participation turns from strategic to social – they become a huge waste of time (this is what I keep ‘preaching’ whenever I talk about social media in any of our programs).

Want to avoid getting stuck in this role of “Ms. Busy-Important”?

Here are 5 tips that help me, every time:

1. Set daily goals

It’s one of the best ways to avoid falling into this trap.

Make your daily goals as specific as possible, choosing ONLY 3 to 6 core tasks to do (and finish).

Think of them as concrete deadlines, not as an abstract wish list of things you would maybe like to accomplish.

2. Manage your day by calendar

Make your calendar and task list your time manager, and do exactly what your time manager tells you to do.

That means work in distraction-free time blocks to do your core tasks and once or twice a day block time for reactive work like checking email and social media updates.

3. Know your what makes you fall into the trap

Recognize what types work projects tempt you away from your productive work.

Are you a chronic organizer? Are you hooked on social media? Do you insist on checking e-mail every time you get a new message alert? Do you like to chit-chat after meetings or calls?

4. Understand the temptation

Pay attention to when and why you are tempted to fall into this trap. What is the benefit that you get doing this role.

Often it’s because you are avoiding something else like a task you dislike or afraid of.

Whatever you do, don’t give in. Stick with your productive tasks and reward yourself when they’re done.

5.Handle less important tasks efficiently

Delegate, simplify, automate whatever you can…

So let me ask you again, are you guilty of playing “Ms. Busy-Important”?

And if so, what are you going to do about it to change before it’s too late?

Let’s help each other getting rid of this role…

Share with us in the comment box below your favorite ‘Ms. Busy-Important” activities AND your top ‘REAL work’ activities.

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Have a magical week! Vered