Breaking the Cycle of Excessive Busyness

What is excessive busyness?

Busyness is one of those terms that gets tossed around a lot without much thought. To clarify our thoughts before writing this chapter, we decided to look up the definition of busy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, busy is a state of activity or vigorous working; labor; toil. That seems pretty straightforward, but we think many people interpret being busy differently. For example, if someone says they are busy, you might assume they mean they are highly productive or they have a lot to do.

Do you ever feel like you’re so busy, but you’re just spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere? Trying to squeeze too many activities into too few hours can leave you feeling overwhelmed. Maybe you're bragging about how busy you are because it secretly makes you feel important and successful. Maybe you're under financial and family pressures that outstrip your resources.

Either way, there's an epidemic of excessive busyness that goes on while building an online business or ministry that leaves us feeling rushed, discontent, and short on time. Try the following major and minor solutions for managing your time and becoming more productive.

Major Antidotes to Excessive Busyness

1. Turn off your phone. Being connected all day long obviously plays a big role in feeling overwhelmed. Switch off your devices for at least two hours before you go to bed. Try spending a day away from social media. This may be very difficult for some, but it’s necessary.

2. Live mindfully. Engage fully with whatever you're doing. Focus on one task at a time. You'll reduce stress and enhance the quality of your work.

3. Choose your priorities. Think about your purpose and devote your time to the activities that matter to you. Using your time wisely makes your life more meaningful.

4. Establish routines. Do you spend as much time coordinating your work for your online business or ministry as actually performing it? A systematic approach turns frequent chores into automatic habits. Do your grocery shopping on Tuesdays and Fridays or whatever days work best for you. Check your email and return phone calls before lunch and dinner.

5. Collaborate with others. We can accomplish more as a team. Focus on your strengths and try to outsource or eliminate the remaining tasks, especially the ones you don’t like or are time wasters.

6. Sleep more. I’m sure you heard the saying “Entrepreneurs will work 80 hours per week just so they don’t have to work 40 hours per week.” As true as this is because I’ve done it at the beginning of building my online business. But, it’s important to resist the temptation to sacrifice sleep in order to get more done. Adequate rest makes you more effective and keeps you healthier. If you're having trouble keeping your eyes open, go to bed an hour earlier than usual.

7. Edit less. Let go of the past. Proof an email once and send it. Launch your product and services while it’s imperfect. If your spouse and kids eat and wear clean clothes to school and work each day, you may not need to analyze your housekeeping any further.

8. Count up your free time. Discovering more free time is like finding extra money in the pocket of a jacket that's been hanging in your closet for months or inside a purse you decided to finally change with your outfit. Count the hours you have outside of work, commuting, and sleeping (whether virtually or at a physical job). Decide how to use them before external demands swallow them up.

Tiny Antidotes to Excessive Busyness

1. Brew real coffee. The coffee break is being replaced by instant powder packets you pour into boiling water. Leave your home office and sit down and share a real cup of coffee or a healthy smoothie with a friend or family member or go take a nice walk in the park or around your neighborhood.

2. If you work in the office before going home to work on your online business, leave the office first. If you're spending more time with the nighttime cleaning crew than with your family, see what it's like to be the first one out the door. Let your coworkers know in advance if it will smooth your departure.

3. Check your thoughts. Have you picked up some of the internal talks for being busy, like you're slammed or your head is spinning? Moderating your internal language is the first step to dialing down the tension.

4. Quit competing! Sometimes it sounds like we're trying to top each other when it comes to having a full plate building an online business. If someone starts talking about their head is spinning or how full their plate is, try sympathizing and changing the subject to something more constructive.

5. Don’t Push Your Luck

How often do you ask for what you need? Do you allow pride to get in the way of asking for help?

Ask for what you need and don’t be embarrassed about it. We all have needs, and for a busy entrepreneur, this is an excellent opportunity to get those needs met in a way that doesn’t require extra work from someone else. For example, if you need some advance notice so you can plan around other obligations, just ask for it.

Write it down. If you need to ask for something, just write it down and prepare what you’ll say when you have someone’s ear.

6. Avoid Excessive Contingency Planning

Don’t open that can of tuna yet!

Limit your contingency planning. Too much contingency planning creates the illusion of busyness and only increases your stress level. Choose your priorities and go for them.

7. Be Willing to Delay

How often do you hear people say, if I don’t ask now, I never will? Often, though, if we let a bit of time pass, we find out we don’t even really want what we thought we did or we find a better way to get it.

Delay doesn’t have to equal giving up. It can mean planning better or looking at things in a different light. It can lead to better results. Sometimes, we just need to let go and let God.

Willingness to let go and let God is another way to talk about delaying. If you want something and you don’t get it, maybe it wasn’t yours, to begin with. Maybe there’s a better option if you are willing to let go and try something different.

Try the Opposite

Sometimes trying the opposite is the best way to delay. For example, if you are shy, you can help yourself become more confident by practicing talking to people. Doing the opposite of what you believe will result in better results.

Try it for yourself: when you want to start a project, begin working on it right away. By the time you’ve thought about it for a few minutes, you’ve already started to build up anticipation and expectation. By starting immediately, you overcome anticipation and often end up with a better result because of the practice and effort that went into the first try.

Utilize Past Experience

Many times, anticipation and desire result in us hoping for a better result than we previously experienced. If you previously failed at a task twice, your brain will anticipate an improved result upon your third attempt. Instead of letting excitement overwhelm you, take action based on realistic expectations. The brain is a powerful thing. Don’t believe me? Read the words in the image below.