Do people ever ask you “Are you busy”?
It’s typically intended as a friendly enquiry into how your business is doing.
Sometimes it specifically means are you busy making money by servicing paying clients.
In a way “busy” in such a context means doing okay (or better) financially.
But there are other valid meanings.
I recently googled busy and here’s an Oxford dictionary definition of the adjective:
“having a great deal to do”
And the verb:
“keep oneself occupied”
Those definitions apply to most if not all people in business.
But they both miss something we need in our businesses – accomplishment.
Do you ever confuse activity with accomplishment?
You could keep yourself busy for an entire day – scrolling social media, dusting the shelves in your office, changing the colour of your logo…
How you choose to spend your time each day – the 1440 minutes you have – will have a direct bearing on where your business will go.
Here’s a quote for you:
“Until I know what a person is working for, I can’t deem them industrious…”
It’s from a philosopher called Epictetus who lived nearly 2000 years ago. Even back then he knew that people could go round in circles without achieving. Or busily head towards the wrong destination.
After you finish reading this blog you’ll do something else. Will your next task simply be to read the next email in your in-tray? Or return a missed call?
Or, alternatively, will it be something you previously put on a list or in your calendar?
Or will you pause for a moment and consider how best to use your time?
Being habitually reactionary or being habitually intentional: which will allow you to accomplish more? There’s no contest is there?
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