Too Busy to Get it Done

You are a busy person doing busy things. After all, the job description said you would have to work independently in a fast paced environment handling many duties at once with a calm demeanour. Emails come at you all day and you’re expected to respond to that urgent text you received last night at 9:37 during your one hour of television this week void of interruptions. The promise of a paperless world with a four-day work week has been replaced with much busyness and still no jet packs.

There are meetings and deliverables, research and decisions. And when you get a moment, you check on your social streams. You haven't tweeted in well over an hour and people may have commented on that article you shared on Google+. Your friends on Facebook want your thoughts on the best sushi in town and there hasn't been a fresh blog post on your site in almost two whole days.

Here's Where We Get into Trouble

We are so afraid to miss something we tend to skim over everything. You're probably doing it with this post. Our lives are 140 characters or acronyms on the smartphone. It's okay, they're busy too and we added that semi-colon and a closed parenthesis so they know we're kidding, right?

In your quest to stay on top of everything, shortcuts are taken and suddenly a friend contacts you through one of the eleven ways they can and mentions that your last response seemed a bit dismissive. Suddenly a dozen messages back and forth could have be more enjoyable and far less misunderstood with a phone call. Or perhaps we have strapped on the suit called busy because it's what others think we should.

A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep

There is certainly no time to have a meaningful conversation, we are far too busy for that. And we wouldn't dare show up for that dinner engagement without our mobile device so we can check it half a dozen times before the appetizers arrive.

Business Week recently published a study stating that only 38% of people can make effective decisions today due to the overwhelming amount of data which is increasing at a rate of 60% a year. It may be time for us to have less meetings, put our phones away, and have more meaningful interaction.

Or perhaps we're too busy for that.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

fototastic

Call Me In September

Let's Do That Later

It begins with the usual signs. Traffic is a bit more congested on the way to the office in the morning. Ah yes, school is back and the unofficial end of summer is upon us. Depending on your region or level, school goes back on different dates but school is back for everyone as of now. The dog days of summer will soon be replaced by turning leaves and cooler temperatures if you live in a part of the world like I do where four distinct seasons is normal.

Call me in September. Let’s do that after the holidays. Once summer is over we’ll get back to that. We’ve all used them. The kids are back to school, summer vacations are over and we have four months left in the year. I am in no hurry to see or speak of snow (as we get here) but this is more about our focus on what we say we want to do versus what we will actually do to accomplish it.

September is a month of transition and rites of passage. It is a time to remember school summers of yore or the one that just passed. It is the month that turns summer into autumn and projects into deadlines.

As the Halloween displays begin to crop up in stores (I know!) we see a lot more people on the roads and while we drink the last few drops of nice weather let’s have a look at all the stuff we said we wanted to get to in September.

Are You Ready?

Kneale Mann

image credit: toastmasters

Too Busy For Each Other

Semi-Colon Closed Parenthesis

You are a busy person doing busy things. After all, the job description said you would have to work independently in a fast paced environment handling many duties at once with a calm demeanor. Emails come at you all day and you’re expected to respond to that urgent text you received last night at 9:37 during your one hour of television this week void of interruptions. The promise of a paperless world with a four-day work week has been replaced with much busyness and still no jet packs.

There are meetings and deliverables, research and decisions. And when you get a moment, you check on your social streams. You haven't tweeted in well over an hour and people may have commented on that article you shared on Google+. Your friends on Facebook want your thoughts on the best sushi in town and there hasn't been a fresh blog post on your site in almost whole two days.

Here's Where We Get into Trouble

We are so afraid to miss something we tend to skim over everything. You're probably doing it with this post. Our lives are 140 characters or acronyms on the smartphone. It's okay, they're busy too and we added that semi-colon and a closed parenthesis so they know we're kidding, right?

In your quest to stay on top of everything, shortcuts are taken and suddenly a friend contacts you through one of the eleven ways they can and mentions that your last response seemed a bit dismissive. Suddenly a dozen messages back and forth could have be more enjoyable and far less misunderstood with a phone call.

A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep

There is certainly no time to have a meaningful conversation, we are far too busy for that. And we wouldn't dare show up for that dinner engagement without our mobile device so we can check it half a dozen times before the appetizers arrive.

The tools are great yet we are missing the important nuances that come with human interaction. Tone and feel have been replaced by texts and tweets. Call a friend, meet in person and put the technology away for an hour. It's okay, the earth will continue to rotate. Then you can stop using busy as an excuse not to spend quality time with friends and colleagues.

Or perhaps you are far too busy for all that.

Kneale Mann

image credit: google
I'd be happy to spend 30 minutes with you on a complimentary introduction call
to see where I can help your business. Feel free to contact me via email and let's chat.