Busy Or Productive? What Are You?

Busy Or Productive? What Are You?

Busy or productive? What are you? The terms busy and productive are often thought to mean the same thing, however, busy people are often the least productive people!

Who is a busy person?

A busy person is someone who is truly busy all the time and at the of the day complains that they didn’t get much accomplished because they were too busy. Busy people love to tell the world how busy they are, and they feel that by doing so many different things they are being productive, but they are far from the actual truth!

Who is a productive person?

The productive person is very goal oriented. They are not interested in looking busy and staying on top of everything, they are interested in setting and achieving goals. At the end of their day, they are relaxed and ready to make a plan for the next day.

How does one become a productive person?

• First of all, set some very clear goals. What do you want to accomplish in one day? Don’t make a long list, simply list a few important tasks you will complete.
• Stop being the “yes” person in your office. When asked to do a task, evaluate it carefully, consider the time it will take to complete, and determine if you really have time for another task.
• What is your strategy? Will you work six hours straight? Should you allow yourself two hours to accomplish certain tasks before a meeting and then another four hours later in the day? Plan out how your day will be spent to actually complete your now shortened list of tasks.
• Stop multi tasking, immediately! Who can really focus on the task at hand with social media chiming, emails binging, phones ringing, and colleagues coming by for chit chat. Determine your priorities. Turn off your alerts, focus on only one task and take note of how much quicker you are able to finish it.
• Set aside certain times of the day for answering emails, and checking social media. Being the first to return emails doesn’t mean you are doing the most efficient thing.

Busy or productive, can you change?

It’s hard to say. Productive people are very goal oriented. They know what they want, they go out and get it. Productive people don’t worry much about what others think, their goals are number one. Busy people seem to wallow in talking about how busy they are and how they can’t get it all done. Busy people always want to change, but it is a tough road. Whether you are busy or productive, there is no right or wrong way to be. Productive people do tend to have it easier in life as they are in control of their lives.

I tend to be a very driven and goal oriented person, but if I allow my devices to ding and ring all the time while I am working, I can easily slip into that busy person. It’s a slippery slope these days! How do you manage it?