In a previous post, Joy and Workaholism, I shared my journey to harness the busyness monster. It’s that feeling that you are very busy, the anxiety that comes with not being able to keep up, and the trapped thinking that you, therefore, have to work more.
“I’m So Busy!”
Ever said that? I seem to be saying it a lot lately.
As I mentioned in that last post, I shared that I am a recovering workaholic who continues to work on the recovery. Recently, I came across an article from Harvard Business Review that called out a busyness paradox where busyness does not equal productivity. Many folks reading this may be saying, “no kidding.”
But as I previously wrote, it’s the shame and guilt that comes with not feeling like you can keep up which causes you to keep wanting to do more. It’s also the feeling that because you are busy “all the time,” you are getting the right things done, which according to recent research, is not the case.
Busyness Paradox: A Closer Look
According to Brigid Schulte, of the BetterLifeLab of New America, many folks like me (and maybe some of you) get caught in a busyness tunnel. It’s that single or narrow-mindedness where we can only focus on the more immediate tasks and things we can check off the list.
As Schulte explains:
“when we’re busy and have that high octane panicked feeling that time is scarce or that sustained moment of hecticness…our attention and ability to focus narrows. Behaviour researchers call this tunnelling.”
The one-track approach causes us to be focused on keeping up and crossing things off our list. This is, of course, instead of focusing on critical priorities and ensuring they are being addressed.
Schulte also points out that if we all disliked our jobs, we would find it easier to create this balance between work and life. So the paradox isn’t solely about limiting something we hate, but the discipline it requires to enjoy the work and focus on doing the right things.
And the other kicker is we all know what to do, but putting it into action is the real challenge. So what do we do about all of this?
So What Can We Do?
As with all things, change doesn’t just happen overnight. Instead, change occurs when there is a paradigm shift or when you transform how you look at the problem.
This shift in thinking will cause people not to accept “what is” as truth but to question whether this burning the midnight oil, and looking at emails 24/7, is effective. Schulte calls this the need to construct a new mental model – where you choose not always to put work first. And this shift in thinking will help one get out of the “tunnel thinking” that I mentioned earlier.
According to Schulte and the work at idea42, some suggested practices being explored and tested include:
- Recognizing the power of social signals
- Building slack for important work
- Increasing transparency into everyone’s workload
After years of experience battling the beast, I suggest two others (at least early on in the journey)
4. Nudge discussions with key individuals
5. Recognize the Wins
A Closer Look at Some of the Solutions
1. Recognizing the power of social signals
Here, the focus is not to read all the incoming signals about needing to “always be on” and introduce new signals in the organization, such as taking breaks and vacations, leaving the office on time and not sending emails after hours on weekends.
2. Building Slack for Important Work
The concept is simple but perhaps a challenge to remember to do it, and that’s building in some time in your day where there are no booked appointments and there is time to do work. One of the contributors to this endless treadmill is that we all underestimate the time it takes to do the assigned work.
The solution, therefore, is to create a pull approach (in Lean 101 terms) where you set the pace and work comes to you when you are ready to take on more work vs. Having work arrive and, in effect, pile up.
So this means needing to book appointments with yourself where you have “desk time” and where you plan transition days before and after your vacation so you can catch up. And Schulte and the idea42 research reminds us that we need to shift our mental model to not view this desk time as just slacking of
3. Increasing transparency into everyone’s workload
According to Schulte and idea42, three ideas under research are: 1) booking time in your calendar to work on priorities (which also means meetings cannot be booked during this time), and the priority is concretized. And then 2) the goal is to introduce meeting hygiene tactics such as limiting time in the meeting and a focused agenda that results in a concrete plan. Third, the goal is to have email and meeting black-out days, so that staff and leaders spend that time focused on priorities. Finally, all three goals “call out” or make the priorities more apparent versus solely being in meetings and responding to emails.
4. Nudge discussions with key individuals
As part of adopting a new mental model and good change management, you also have to communicate your intentions. So, in addition to introducing new processes, you also have to “clarify” your intentions to others who may not have yet adopted a new mental model. So this doesn’t have to be lengthy discussions and topics on a meeting agenda list, but when folks hear you shifting and setting boundaries, it may be a confusing time (between one mental model and another). So here is when I find I have to reframe “at the moment” regularly and explain why meetings at 9 pm or 6:30 on a Friday of a long weekend are “out” and a no go for me.
It also means having a crucial conversation with my leader, not in a time of stress or pressure, but during a regular meeting, where you may discuss what works for you and why, and how this will benefit the organization. It’s a skill I am still learning every day, but not having a discussion can create some unnecessary tension. The best approach is to practice prevention and have this discussion before the uncertainty or confusion begins.
5. Recognize the wins
And lastly, with any recovery journey, you have to celebrate the small steps. So while making this all change overnight is a wish, it’s not a reality. The reality is, turning things around will take time, and as you take each step forward, it is essential to celebrate the small wins.
Next Steps Towards Recovery
So this research has piqued my interest again in better understanding how to be productive and effective as a leader and modelling the way. I think it’s up to us as individuals to want to make a change. But as a leader within our organization, it’s up to me as a leader to help our organization focus not on being busy but on the long term and essential goals.
So I continue this journey of recovery and learning new ways of shaping how I view busyness and finding a new balance. And as part of this journey, I am now reading a book on “Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work and Flow” by Dominica DeGrandis. I will let you know all that I have learned. I also picked up another book, “The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life.” More to come.
Bliss Reflection
Finding the right balance is a challenge, but not impossible. What makes it quite the challenge is the “culture” around you. Let me explain.
If you realize that you are on that busyness tunnel and want to get off, I find it quite challenging. Challenging to be the one implementing new processes and perhaps even boundaries when others around you are probably wearing the badge of honour that they are “so busy.”
And for others, it is not a badge and is simply about too much volume for one individual. But regardless of the reason, when you are one of a few looking to make a change, it can feel lonely and sometimes, you are judged for not “working long hours like the other person.”
And don’t get me wrong – I’m not scared of hard work. However, I am not prepared to return to the imbalance or the treadmill. I know how much can be lost when you do that.
So I have realized that I have to focus on my well-being and my team and be a leader who chooses to reflect on the busyness paradox occurring in the workplace. The buck stops with me, as the saying goes.
And when you begin making a change, like with any change that occurs, you need to prepare for the headwind. But if you know to expect this, you can use a change management approach to cause things to nudge or to shift in the desired direction.
And when you realize you can’t go back and that having that balance gives you more joy, you have to work on it every day. So it will take a combination of personal declarations, crucial conversations with your team, peers and leader, and time spent coaching or introducing new processes (such as the 50-minute meeting vs the traditional 60 minutes or introducing weekly or daily huddles.)
But in the end, although you feel like a minority at first, it does pay off. I am still working on the change itself, but I choose to take each day to make a difference and an impact. It’s the small baby steps that add up.
And as I travel on this journey, I am finding more people who think the same, but they either didn’t know how to tackle it or thought they were alone. And once you find one other peer who feels the same, that one additional person can make help you get through that headwind.
So it takes some work to curb the busyness paradox, but in this case, I think the payoff is there. And sometimes in life, you have to choose “being: and not just “doing.”
Curious to hear others’ ideas and processes for curbing the paradox. Please leave your ideas in the comments box below!
Bliss Hints and Tips
- If you want to look into the BetterLifeLab a little more and see what research and new ideas they are looking into, click here. If you want to check out Schulte’s latest book and website, click here.
- For more reading about Lean, check out the American Society for Quality.
References:
- Schulte, B. (2019). Preventing Busyness from Becoming Burnout. Harvard Business Review, April 2019. If you also want to read her latest book (which is next on my reading list), check out her website.
- DeGrandis, D. (2017) Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work and Flow. IT Revolution: Portland
- Anchor, S (2010). The Happiness Advantage. Currency: New York.
