Life is full of busyness – family, children, career, home, friends,…..everyone’s list is unique and the top single thing I hear most often is “I am so busy”. What is the definition of “busy” – what can you do with “busy”. It has become a catchall word to describe everything life brings to us. We can be busy with one thing or 50. My question to you is, what purpose does “busy” have? Does “busy” serve you well? Do you use being “busy” to avoid or resist tasks, people or yourself? Perhaps you think staying ‘busy” keeps the juices flowing toward productivity?
There is a wonderful exercise I like to use, it’s called Top 5 Outcomes. What are your top 5 outcomes before you leave the planet? That’s a big question and takes big thinking. Once you have identified your outcomes. Write it down. Think back to yesterday and try and list everything you did that day. No doubt you had a “busy” day. Now ask yourself, did any of that busyness target 1 or all of your top 5 outcomes that you identified? Chances are not.
The goal of such an exercise is to create awareness and the ability to be more mindful toward the result of realigning your busyness to what matters most. YOU. Of course, you will have time spent on “filler” tasks and activities, i.e, binge watching your favorite Netflix show, reading a gossip magazine, washing your car, etc. The goal is to ensure that the percentage of activities or tasks each day touches upon targeting your top 5 outcomes.