Home
>
Time Management
>
Im Too Busy - Oh Really!

Im Too Busy - Oh Really!

If I had a dollar or even better a pound for every time I'd heard a business leader say this I'd be very rich.

I'm too busy is used in so many contexts

* I'm too busy ? I don't want to
* I'm too busy ? I'm overwhelmed
* I'm too busy ? Go Away
* I'm too busy ? I'm confused
* I'm too busy ? And you're not!

If we break that sentence down and look at each part, we can then look at ways of helping you be less busy.

I'M too busy ? with the emphasis on the I, the inference is that the centre of the busyness is you. The implication is that you need to be because you are the only person that can do all of the work that is causing you to feel busy.

I'm TOO busy ? with the emphasis on the TOO, the inference is that your busyness level is more than you can cope with. It implies that you have to cope with more work than is comfortable for you.

I'm too BUSY ? with the emphasis on the BUSY, the inference is that you have lots to do but that it might not be useful or productive work or work that you feel you should be doing.

So let's assume that's the case and the work you currently have that is causing you to be too busy, is largely made up of work you feel you shouldn't be doing, i.e. it is work that is not specifically contributing to your goals and targets.

So what's the answer?

Here is a process for you to try to Get Creative, Get Focused and Get Control

1. List all of the tasks, activities or pieces of work you currently have "to do"

2. Give each task a priority 1-5 (1 being high 5 being low) based on their relevance to your specific goals or targets

3. Give each ask a MUST, SHOULD COULD rating

a. Must ? you are accountable and responsible for its completion
b. Should ? You are accountable but not necessarily responsible i.e. you must make it happen but someone else could do it
c. Could ? You are neither accountable or responsible

4. For each must

a. set a deadline for completion and schedule it in you diary/PDA now

5. For each should

a. make a list of who else could do it and why it might be more appropriate for them to do it
b. prioritise this list

6. For each could

a. decide to do it and schedule it
b. delegate it and schedule time to hand the work over
c. discard it completely

"The key is not to prioritise what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities" Stephen R. Covey

Just because you assume you're too busy doesn't mean that you are.

You have a choice not to do something and you can choose to make different decisions about what work you do and what work you don't. If you work for someone else help them to help you by having regular discussions about you workload and what work is a Must, Should and Could for you ? don't just accept everything that comes your way.

Take control and get creative about how you think about and how you manage your workload. Your level of busyness is down to you.

?2005 Beverley Hamilton

About The Author
Beverley Hamilton is the author of take control of your time: 7 Straight Shooter Strategies for Success. To learn more, subscribe to Quickstart her free ezine and get more tips, tools and articles visit at take control of your time

NOTE: You're welcome to reprint this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered including the "about the author" information at the end.

detailed home cleaning Bannockburn ...

In The News:

Apple's iOS 27 lets you add keywords to iPhone photos, while Samsung Gallery tags and Google Photos search offer similar organization tools.

A fake Claude AI download scam uses Google ads and Bing redirects to trick Mac users into pasting a hidden malicious command in their Terminal.

Ahold Delhaize's cybersecurity incident knocked online ordering and digital coupons offline at Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Hannaford and Giant Food stores.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Amazon's About You feature includes personality details from your shopping history, and some shoppers are finding hilariously awkward results.

Identity theft recovery starts with securing bank accounts, freezing credit and enabling two-factor authentication within the first 24 hours.

Apple's $299 HomeView smart display uses facial recognition to personalize screens for up to six household members and show live security camera feeds.

Domonique DuBose spotted red flags when a man on Hinge with 85,000 followers and a blue checkmark claimed to be a San Francisco 49ers player.

Your phone's location data can expose visits to doctors, pharmacies and places of worship. The FTC took action against data brokers selling this data.

Hackers targeted Danfoss refrigerator controls across French supermarkets, forcing chains like Carrefour and Monoprix to discard massive food stocks.

iOS 27 finally lets iPhone Shared Albums store photos and videos at full resolution in iCloud, but new items count toward the owner's storage.

A fake Facebook Marketplace text scam uses your real name as the seller to trick you into replying, and Malwarebytes warns even one response helps.

The Pentagon data breach exposed 2.76 million Social Security numbers and military records, raising long-term identity theft concerns for veterans.

Kodiak AI plans to haul IKEA freight on Texas highways with no one in the cab, raising urgent cybersecurity and safety questions for drivers.

Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 adds Extend and Reframe tools to Photos, letting iPhones generate new background areas beyond your original borders.

Microsoft's X account was hijacked to promote a crypto pump-and-dump scheme, exposing its more than 13 million followers to a scam campaign.

Scammers can combine your name, phone number and address with data breach details to attempt SIM swaps, phishing and even identity theft schemes.

ChatGPT Work, Meta Muse and Gemini Spark can monitor flight prices, sort your email inbox and track important deadlines, but savvy users start small.

iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel each hide a built-in tool that turns a video frame into a separate photo without any screenshot needed.

Operation KillSwitch dismantled KillSec's ransomware infrastructure, but investigators say a 16-year-old allegedly ran the entire cybercrime operation.

The Fox News Artificial Intelligence newsletter covers where voters will decide on AI data center ballot measures and Jeff Bezos' tech vision.

Apple's Impersonation Risk Detection in iOS 27 can flag suspicious activity inside apps, but the setting is off by default and must be enabled.

Federal Election Commission records can expose your name, address, employer and donation history once contributions exceed the $200 threshold.

Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright says human skepticism remains the strongest defense against AI-driven phishing scams and voice cloning fraud schemes.

iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy each handle security updates differently, and one screen saying "up to date" may not tell the whole story.

Im Too Busy - Oh Really!

Time Management