Busy? Lucky You!
A recent Nestle graduate of the Pathways to Leadership program muses about what being busy can mean.
Every person I know - when you ask them, “How are you doing?” they say, "I'm really busy."
Like everyone else, I have spent the vast majority of my adult life being "busy." Not just at work or with my family, but I have always been a Mr. Fix-it kind of guy. I am not comfortable unless I have 10+ projects going on all at once. Ah, nothing like the smell of drywall in the morning!
As much as I enjoy the work, the long "to do" list can be overwhelming. At least once a year I make a complete list of all the projects that I need to do around the house and how much it will cost. Drywall laundry room, paint back porch, make new window box, re-glaze basement windows and re-seed the front yard (This is the actual list for this weekend). On top of that is the weekly list I make for work projects. These lists often take on a life of their own. Am I the only one who adds "make a new list" to their current to-do list?
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| Magic Moment! Recently I have gone through a rather profound shift in my thinking, I will give Pathways and my family the credit. I used to dream about the day when I would be "caught up" and when I could stop being so busy. Wouldn't it be great to just be able to sit around and do nothing?
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Spending time with my parents and in-laws this winter gave me a new perspective and helped me think about being busy in a much more positive and front side focused way.
My parents and my wife's parents are all retired and you know what? They are really busy too. Monday the golf course is closed so that is the day my dad goes to Walgreen's. Making a shopping list, shopping and putting the groceries away takes a whole day. |
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My mom was really busy because she just spent 3 days reworking her taxes to save $100.
My father-in-law runs all the betting pools, Fantasy Golf, NCAA Basketball, etc. He makes these huge spread sheets that print 5 pages wide and 5 page long that he has to tape together. He hasn't quite mastered Excel so he adds up all the numbers on a calculator and then keys them into excel. You guessed it - he is really busy.
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After realizing what "really busy" might look like in a few years when I retire, I started to shift my perspective and really appreciate how lucky I am to have meaningful, challenging stuff on my ever-expanding lists.
Instead of hoping for my list to be complete and looking forward to the day when watching golf on TV is a big day, I have started to think about all the great, useful, helpful stuff I want to add to my list now.
It's that little shift to a front side focus, but I now actually find myself looking forward to having new jobs to add to my plate. My energy level is better and I am finding I am much more productive too. Amazing!
So now when asked how I am doing I try to answer "it's great; I just got a whole bunch of really good stuff added to my list!"
Try it. You might be surprised.
