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.

professional maid services Glenview ...
In The News:

Uber teen accounts now feature live video streaming from the driver's camera, but encrypted recordings stay on Uber's servers for up to 14 days.
Router firewalls and software firewalls serve different roles in protecting your home Wi-Fi from unwanted traffic and suspicious connections.
A Chrome extension with 70,000 users and a 4.7-star rating began injecting fake update warnings after a threat actor acquired and weaponized it.
Amazon's Alexa+ rolls out free to Fire TV devices across the U.S., but hands-free microphones and stored voice data raise key privacy questions.
Meta's new teen accounts settlement sets a default two-hour daily limit on Instagram and Facebook, plus night mode and school mode restrictions.
The CareCloud data breach exposed Social Security numbers, banking information and medical records belonging to more than 3.75 million people.
Waymo reveals its custom 5-nanometer chip and dual computing systems designed to take over instantly if the robotaxi's primary computer fails.
Identity theft now includes account takeover, phone hijacking and payment card exposure. Here's what to look for in identity theft protection services.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
The FBI and Justice Department seized domains tied to QScan and QTRouter, tools allegedly used by China-linked hackers to breach NASA and other agencies.
Uber Eats drone delivery launches later this year through a Zipline partnership, starting in Dallas and Houston with a goal of one million daily flights.
Medicare Open Enrollment scams start with data broker targeting months before October. Learn why August is the time to remove your personal info.
The World Humanoid Robot Games' crashes show how far the technology still needs to go to be useful, "Survivor" reality TV star and robotics scientist Christian Hubicki says.
X-Humanoid's TianGong Ultra ran 100 meters in 9.32 seconds at Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games, beating last year's winner by more than half.
A tap-to-pay charity scam is turning small $15 or $20 donations into charges of nearly $5,000, with victims losing thousands before they notice.
Kurt Knutsson shares seven emergency preparedness lessons from surviving Hurricane Katrina inside a New Orleans hotel as conditions turned desperate.
A contractor stored credentials in a Google Doc set to "Anyone with the link," and Google Search autocomplete eventually surfaced the password string.
New Orleans 911 uses Carbyne AI to triage repeat auto crash calls, but strict limits keep human call-takers in control of all other emergencies.
A single card skimmer can generate $1 million in stolen funds, and Secret Service video shows criminals installing them in under two seconds.
ChatGPT, Meta AI and Google now use memory, connected apps and past chats to personalize ads and responses in ways most users overlook today.
MagicalAuth by Glide.id uses cryptographic SIM credentials to verify bank logins without sending SMS OTP codes that scammers can intercept or phish.
A humanoid robot named Lightning Bolt ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, edging Usain Bolt's record.
An AI agent using Claude AI canceled another person's gym booking after finding a security flaw in the reservation system's authorization checks.
Trump signed a memorandum allowing vetted private U.S. companies to conduct cyber operations against foreign criminal organizations under oversight.
Your Social Security number appeared in a breach, but exposure and identity theft are not the same. Here's how identity restoration actually works.

How to Make More Time For Your Life

Do you wish you could work less and play more?... Read More

Time Management: A Fresh View

Last week I had the privilege of spending some quality... Read More

Time Management

Does it ever feel like there is never enough time... Read More

31 Ways to Get An Extra Hour Out of Each Day

How can you get an extra hour out of each... Read More

Seven Ways to Say, No!

A common remedy for improving your time management is to... Read More

Productivity at Home

Increased productivity, the ability to get more value for our... Read More

Time Is Everything

Time is wealth;Time is health; Time is power; Time is... Read More

Being Busy Does Not Equal Being Productive

How many people do you know who are so busy... Read More

Put Yourself First

Are you too busy to put yourself first? If a... Read More

Find The Time -- Before Its Too Late!

People always seem to be in such a hurry, everywhere... Read More

Do You Over Promise and Under Deliver?

A new client recently admitted to me sheepishly that she... Read More

Focus on One Thing at a Time to Get the Job Done

All too often we can feel overwhelmed by the amount... Read More

Where Do Your Priorities Fit?

An expert in time management was speaking to a group... Read More

Time Managements

There are the golden rules that apply to time. If... Read More

Winning The Fight Between You And The Clock

"Slaves to the clock" was the cover story in the... Read More

Measure Your Time Against Active Inactivity

We don't realize many things we do until we draw... Read More

Freelance Productivity: Do One Thing Extra Each Day

This may not sound like a big deal. But it's... Read More

Time Management: A Non-Renewable Resource

Benjamin Franklin wrote: "If you want to enjoy one of... Read More

The Rule of Three

It's amazing how many sayings there are in our culture... Read More

New Adventures - in Four Hours a Day

"Can you find four extra hours in your day?" a... Read More

Tips to Save One Hour Per Day

At Home? Keep related items together, for example the coffee... Read More

Boost Your Productivity with Sixty Minutes A Day

How you spend the first sixty minutes of your day... Read More

It?s Not The Same Old Routine

We are constantly inundated with routine (often boring!) tasks around... Read More

Is the Goal to Reach the Goal?

In this fast and crazy world, we want to multi-task... Read More

When is the Best Time to Plan Your Day?

When is the best time to plan your day? Well,... Read More

professional home cleaners Glenview ...