Don't Fight Busyness, Elevate It.

Recently whenever I ask someone how they are doing I hear variations of “crazy busy,” “so busy I can’t think,” or “I’m slammed.” Frankly I’m tired of hearing it. I just read an HBR blog on this busyness syndrome and how to fight it. Honestly, I don’t want to fight busyness because that’s a losing battle, but I want to change the focus.

Think about it. All of us are busy; busy creating a life, loving others, doing our job, or we are busy living. So what? The first definition of busy I found is “actively or fully engaged or occupied.” Hey wait? That’s the way I want to live my life! I hope I can describe every day that way. But most of us mean the 2^nd and 4^th definitions “overcrowded or cluttered with detail,” “crowded with or characterized by much activity.” But honestly even those don’t sound too bad.

The real challenge is that saying “I’m crazy busy” has become a badge of honor. We brag about how much work we have to do and how there is no time for our lives. Perhaps it makes us feel important. Really? We want to live like this? I don’t.

And more to the point, this busyness syndrome can get in the way of achieving anything. Many people point to their calendars and inboxes to justify how they can’t get another thing done. But I wonder what they are doing. I meet plenty of busy people. A few of them actually accomplish something.

Recently I worked with a multinational corporation that wanted to change the dialogue around performance reviews for their employees. They realized that most employees arrived for their year-end reviews armed with all of the projects they worked on during the year and how hard they worked. This company decided to look at “business impact” instead of activity. Instead of only talking about how many projects, tasks, or meeting occurred, the question became “what was the impact of this work on the business?”  It radically changed the conversation and it changed the mindset.

Think about how we would reset our lives if we looked at impact. If you schedule time with your kids, ask yourself what impact it had on them, or you? It might make you put your smart phone down to have a greater impact. Or that writing project you are working on? Did you spend a couple of hours at your desk, or did you accomplish something, actually get some pages written? What was the impact of the time spent working? We can even use this gauge in a more dramatic fashion and ask the question, what impact has my life made?

We are all busy. It’s called living. But being busy can be a smoke screen full of sound and fury and signifying nothing (with apologies to the Bard). By changing the litmus test of our lives we can move from crowded calendars to meaningful calendars. If we concern ourselves with impact our meetings, dates, even playtimes take on more significance. And finally if we live our lives focused on our impact on others and the impact we leave, we will dramatically change our world. Isn’t that better than just being busy? 

We Need "Sneezers"

Our small, independent bookstore sits almost in the middle of Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Called "words!" it is a beautiful serene space where people gather seeking ideas and knowledge. Our store name decorates the windows, but under "words!" is our tag line "change the world." We love the interplay of that statement because we do believe that "words change the world," but also we believe in the encouragement to all passersby; "change the world." What we hope for, dream for, long for and work for is that we can help create a social contagion that touches millions of people of people to not just encourage change from others, but start by creating it themselves. We need "sneezers."

I came across the concept of sneezers in a book about marketing by Seth Godin. He postulates that a business, or an idea has the best chance of multiplying rapidly by engaging those individuals who have a wide ranging network, getting them to buy into the idea, and spread it to their network. He called them sneezers. A perfect example was the immediate, enormous protest of the $5 Bank of America charge for transactions. It all started with one person posting on the internet about the charge and saying it was unfair. The protest was picked up by sneezers with access and it spread like wildfire. The banking giant backed down.

We have the capacity to change the world, to get millions of people on board to help feed the hungry, educate children, provide health care and allow every individual in the world to fulfill their greatest potential. This is truly what greatness is about and what I've always envisioned the greatness project should be; fostering the capacity for every human to be able to achieve their personal greatness. For this to happen, we need to focus less on ourselves and more on the challenges that surround us. Over the past week I've met dozens of people who are trying to do this every day. They shelter the homeless, help home bound seniors, create safe places for children and feed the hungry. Sadly their work and their message is drowned out in the sea of tweets, blogs, websites and news stories about everything from new sneakers to losing weight.

How can we create a sea change that envelops the world and moves us all to focus on creating a place  where all people have an opportunity to explore their best self? It starts with each of us, right here and now helping just one other person and enlisting others in the same movement. All of us can be sneezers. We can create a spark to set the world on fire. Start small. Start local and spread the word. Let's change the world.

My Latest Article on Positive Psychology News Daily

Though I wrote about the motivation of a child, Edward Deci's research can easily be applied to yourself, or your company. Click on the link Moving From "I Must..." to "I Want To." for the article, or go to www.positivepsychologynews.com. Enjoy.

Christmas Musings

An Empty Space

An empty space graces the center
of the manager scene.
Yet a spot of trampled hay cannot contain
the unfathomed hope placed here;
as though a cosmic arrow points dramatically
from heaven reading
“watch this!”
to accentuate the absurd hope we place
on a moment, a place, a new born.

At millennial celebrations of crèches and caves
we bring a battered hope yearly to this moment
to be mended or rebuilt and believe that perhaps
this year the birth of one will move all
toward peace.

In film and word we expound
the transformative power of the season
when George Bailey realizes his good fortune,
Scrooge tears open his curtains,
and we long for the dawning of a new age.

Yet watching and waiting will not spark a change
and longing will leave millions unfed.
Hope that energizes voices and
desire that strengthens muscle
redeems this scene from a saccharine docility
and transforms dreaming and longing
into action.

New and ancient our collective journeys
draw us yearly past this manger scene.
Yet we receive the gift, we are reborn,
we journey onward renewed.

SAA