‘Make the right choice’
Being overly busy at work can cause accidents or errors and has an impact on the behaviour of the person. Each and every person in an organisation is multi-tasking and handling a lot of portfolios at one time. So, how does such a person organise his work better so that he becomes less busy and has a good word for his other colleagues too.
Busy people are usually scattered, frenetic, stressed, anxious and certainly not connected with what’s going on at the given moment. When you ask them how are you, the response is ‘busy’ instead of ‘I’m well, thank you’ or ‘doing great’. Here are some basic tips and strategies to manage your busy life
Do one thing at a time
Multitasking is fun but it creates chaos. Eliminate unnecessary work and focus your attention on doing what is most important. In this way, things will move along smoothly and you will spare yourself the stress of having a bunch of half-completed items.
Don’t over-schedule
This includes the number of commitments and how much time each commitment requires. Include time before (preparing for each commitment) and after (time to take in the experience and process instead of rushing to the next thing). If you are too busy all the time, evaluate what’s keeping you busy.
Constantly ask yourself — ‘Is this the most important thing I could/ should be doing right nowIJ’ And if it isn’t, stop immediately.
Slow down & have patience
Stay present with your work, children, food, driving or whatever you do at a given moment. We can have fewer commitments and go about them in a “busy” way, or we can have more commitments, but feel less busy because of how we are going about the task.
Consume less
How much time in your busy day is spent being a consumerIJ It isn’t just buying things that take time, but also fixing, cleaning, organising and storing mundane tasks which have no focus and often no end. You can free up a lot of time by consuming less.
Make space for things
leave openings in life for something new to enter. If you get to a point where there’s spare time, resist the urge to instantly fill it. Risk being bored!
What really matters
Find out if you really are busy or if you just haven’t taken the time to figure out what really needs to get done. It’s easy to get trapped in our own routines. Often we run around feeling overwhelmed because what needs to get done is larger in our heads than in reality.
Perfection can wait
Perfectionism can be a big hindrance and time waster. During crazy busy times, getting ‘it’ done is more important than how well ‘it’ gets done.
Give yourself a break
Don’t give yourself such a hard time. You can do it all — just not all at once! Identify the things that you can let go of.
Fill in this sentence as quickly and specifically as you can — When I say I’m busy that means _____. Now read what you just wrote. Does it really have any substanceIJ Consider how being busy is helping you to reach your goals, achieve success or even put in a productive day at work. If you are so busy that you don’t have a moment to think creatively, say hello to someone, meet someone new, then is it a successful lifeIJ
The writer is Dr Prachi, consultant psychologist at Artemis Hospitals