Being busy is lame
I am sure you know at least one person who is always busy. They always stare at their screen, answer work e-mails, jump from meeting to meeting, and they are the first person in the office and the last to leave. Their overtime sheet is full, and they have no time for a 20-minute break or coffee chat. They work so hard, but they actually do nothing.
I am sure you know at least one person who is never busy. They have regular breaks away from the keyboard, they do only a few meetings a week, they never work overtime, and they are happy to go with you for a quick chat over a coffee.
Probably the output of the 2 person above is the same, or even the second person is more effective.
Busyness is a personality thing, and 9 out of 10 busy people are just unorganised. Of course, it can be affected by company culture, but even within the same environment, I have met both personality types. Also, everyone has busy periods, and sometimes you cannot avoid them. But generally, being busy is lame.
I think people should aim to be part of the never-busy group.
Being busy
The busy people usually have their own great mantras for why they are so busy.
“The management will notice how hard I try.”
“I am so motivated to be promoted, so I work a lot.”
“Let’s organize a call so we can go into the deep details and understand the process.”
“I am a maximalist, and everything needs to be perfect.”
“I have no time to rest, the deadline is so close.”
Let me tell you this:
Management only cares about the outputs and KPIs.
This person will be the first to burn out.
‘Deep understanding’ of the process usually leads to overcomplicating things. More below.
Perfect means balance in many aspects. Busy people usually hunt perfect in a few aspects and sacrifice others.
A 20-minute break will not necessarily result in a 20-minute delay. Great ideas can come in great breaks.
Busy people are also usually loud. They want to be visible, and they want to show how much they do. But their loudness is just noise and not actual important buzz. They want to be part of every conversation because they like to hear about things, but most of the time, they cannot add to the conversation.
They tend to micromanage. They want to know everything, but they have no time for the real details, so they know nothing. They see only the surface and usually have no value to add.
They are busy because they chose to be so. Being busy can be a decision for most people, or at least everyone should have some sort of influence on how busy they are. Being busy is not equal to being better in your job. It will have many consequences that are usually not positive. Busy people usually sacrifice work-life balance, rest, and are more stressed and harder to work with.
Busy people are present in the most calm environment as well, but the hustle culture can multiply their bad habits.
Being not so busy
Less busy people are not less busy because they are not motivated or lazy. In fact, they are usually less busy because they already took the time to learn stuff (like automation, the tools, time management, etc., see below) and chose to be less busy.
People are usually less busy because:
They optimize for output and not bullshit. Planning and discussing projects is a must, but when you spend more time in meetings than actually implementing, the process is flawed.
They automate their processes. When you have automations working for you, you have more time for other things, simple.
They know what tools to use for a given task. For a simple data analysis, Excel will do the job. For multi-line text editing or list comparison, use VS Code. You don’t need the fancy, shiny tool to be effective at work.
They spend time learning the tools they work with. Learn the keyboard shortcuts, learn the basic functions in Excel, spend some time on YouTube, and watch how experienced people use the tools you also use.
They organize their days effectively. Time-management is also a skill. Calendar boxing and organized to-do lists can help to be organized. Find something that fits your needs and personality. The internet is full of productivity tips.
They are quiet, but they are good listeners. They focus on the results, and they are successful because of them and not because of the noise they cause.
They know how to allocate resources and assign tasks. The broad picture is enough for them to add clear instructions that lead to a calm, but productive environment.