SITDE #1: A Middle Finger to Busyness
A Middle Finger to Busyness
“I will see your conference call, and raise you a luncheon, school drop-off and employee retreat.”
Good morning, Deep Enders and welcome to my lifeletter!
Ever noticed how much people enjoy reminding you how busy they are?
Here’s an exchange I have at least five times a week.
Me: “Hey, (insert name here), how are things goin’?”
Person: “I am sooooo busy. Today, I … (Insert laundry list of pointless tasks Person did prior to our meeting and has to do after our meeting.)”
My reaction:
When I first entered the professional world, I was impressed by people’s narration of their busyness syndrome.
Then, my wife and I had 5 kids, and I took a maniacal approach to scheduling my life.
Now, the mere mention of busyness creates stomach churns. 🤮
Why do we enjoy telling people we’re busy while hating the fact that we’re busy?
A few theories:
Professional Porn: “I’m so sexy because I’m busy. And I’m busy because I’m important. And I’m important because… well, I’m busy.”
The Preemptive Strike: “If I let her know how busy I am, maybe she won’t ask me to do anything else.”
Script Recall: "When I hear, 'How are you?', I will insert busy language."
Here is one last theory: Maybe busyness is just an early warning sign of life loathing.
Some of us hate what we do and so busyness language is an antidote for actually sharing the fact that we hate our lives.
Why I Decided to Take a Meeting & Phone Call Sabbatical
Three meeting-less months felt like a 🦄 was pooping Skittles into my mouth. It was INCREDIBLE.
So this year, I decided to institute an annual Meeting & Phone Call Sabbatical.
From Dec. 15 to Feb. 1, I won't be a party to any meetings or phone calls. None. Zilch.
All communications will be reduced to email and DM's, and I'm only checking them twice a day. I am focusing on one thing for 62 days: writing.
So, as you push thru the midpoint of the week, here are a few ways you can get some midweek mojo:
Busyness-Fighting Bruce Lee Style 🥋
Level 1: For one week, don’t use the word “busy”.
Level 2: Each Sunday, eliminate the low-value activities LVAC’s on your calendar.
Level 3: Shift your default Google Calendar increment time down (I’m at the lowest possible setting – 15 mins.). Here’s a how you can do it if you’re on Android, iPhone or a computadora.
Level 4: Take a meeting or phone call sabbatical, even if it’s for just one day. Come up with an excuse (examples include: sick 🐕, lost voice & communicable disease 🙅).
I love you.
Stay In The Deep End, Friends.
In football, Daron’s life story is what we call ‘sudden change.’
His book gives us all a chance to think of what might be rather than just accept things as they are.