“Crazy Busy” is a Trap
Frantic busyness is expected in some organizations. In others, it’s a badge of honor.
Busy all the time is crazy.
The “Crazy Busy” Assessment
- I usually feel on top of things.
- I wake up refreshed and excited for the day.
- I feel like things are falling through the cracks.
- I never take time to reflect on the results of my choices.
- The last time I spent a day unplugged was ____ weeks/months ago.
I’d make a longer assessment, but I don’t want to add to your busyness.
3 Warnings
Frantic schedules lead to shallow lives.
- Don’t confuse activity with significance. The busier you are the less fulfilling your life becomes. Significance, like deep relationships, takes time.
- Don’t invest in trivialities. The “fire fighter” leader misses the point.
- Don’t lose yourself (The greatest tragedy of all).
7 Ways to Overcome “Crazy Busy”
- Stop blaming others for your busyness. When did you become so helpless? Own it.
- Say, “Can it wait until this afternoon,” when someone rushes in with a crisis. Give space for people to solve issues on their own.
- Delegate repeated activities. Successful leaders become less, not more, essential.
- Prioritize. “Crazy busy” is leadership without priorities. What’s important today? What are your big rocks?
- Start saying “no” so you can focus on priorities, values, vision, and mission.
- Schedule a quiet day or weekend.
- Commit to build a legacy not a tragedy.
Labor to enter rest. Schedule it. Plan it. Execute on a rest initiative.
3 Quick Wins
- Take several short breaks during the day.
- Close the door to your office.
- Answer email at the top of the hour or once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
How might leaders manage frantic schedules?
What might you do today to reclaim sanity?
For all leaders who aspire to be better leaders, read, The Vagrant. It will transform the way you practice self-reflection.
This reminds me of the adage not to confuse being busy with being productive, or something like that.
Re “Crazy busy” is leadership without priorities:” It’s also tough when leadership’s priorities shift constantly. Sure, we need to be flexible but sometimes I wonder if that’s an excuse for not planning and prioritizing better.
It’s pretty easy to live without priorities. Just run around doing the next thing. There are always pressing issues seducing us from things that matter.
As you suggest, lack of planning leads to a life filled with urgencies. It takes courage to say no. More courage than some of us have.
Agreed that this is often self-inflicted and it is a great reminder that there is some control that we have of how ‘crazy’ the busy might be, partially based upon our attitude about the amount of things that we have to do. I love that you point out how being ‘overwhelmed’ or frantically busy is a badge of honor in some work cultures. Definitely something worthy of reflection – thank you for the topic!
Let’s face it. When someone asks if we are busy, it’s a sin to say no. It makes us feel insignificant. One problem with our infatuation with being busy is lack of time for people. People don’t want to bother us because we’re so busy.
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Great post today Dan. As a “firefighter leader” as you mention above, we are constantly reminding our officers/leaders that the leadership methods used on fire scenes are often ill-equipped for non-emergency scenarios. The biggest difference most of the time is, in fact, time. Slow down, be intentional, and decisions will become improve. Focus on the significant items first, the big rocks, and work on the rest as needed. Thank you for the thought today.
Thanks for jumping in today, David. Your experience is important to this topic. One of the things I love about people who deal with crisis as a job is they rehearse. Thank you for your service.
It’s a great post! I always like asking, “Are you a firefighter or a fire marshal? Are you a leader that is always having to respond and get bogged down in the constant fires or are you planning ahead, checking along the way to be available to your team when potential fires do pop up? Fires aren’t just going to disappear magically, but being more of a fire marshal mindset, they assess fires when they do happen, educate, investigate….Thank you for helping me be more of a leadership freak!
Love your insight, Ben. Emergencies happen. When they are daily life, something is wrong. It may be the environment. It may be the way leaders think about themselves. Lack of planning, as you say, is one reason we constantly fight fires. As you indicate, lack of learning is another. Sometimes we don’t learn from experience. We just repeat it.
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