Have you ever said ‘I’m so busy’ or ‘I’m too busy to. . . ’ or been accused of such? In the workplace, it can often be associated with value to have a calendar no one can ever get on. In my opinion – you’re mismanaging your time or your leaders are mismanaging their resources.

The three things we need time for

We cannot be effective at our jobs if we are constantly in meetings. You need time to do the following:

1. 1. Ideate (think)
   2. Produce work
   3. Prepare for the next day

What does your calendar look like?

Look at your calendar right now. Do you set aside time daily to prepare for the day or next day? Are you flinging yourself into the bed when you cannot keep your eyes open and hitting snooze the next day 5 times?

When do you have time to produce work? Are you multitasking during work meetings (I’m looking at you, muted and no video on Zoom)? Bringing your work home when your family needs attention, or worse…when you’re on vacation?

Create time to think

Have you created time to THINK? What do you need in place to do that? Do you clear your head and meditate first? Play music (pump ups as my son calls it)? Need to put your phone in the other room? We develop at rest, not when we are actively engaged with an activity so this has to be a priority.

Effects of overcommitting

I’ve worked with people who overcommitted themselves. It was pretty obvious when they were jumping from meeting to meeting and sometimes late or unprepared, or the quality of their work was not as polished. I credit them for getting it done vs having it be perfect. But I could feel the frenzy trailing behind them after they were no longer in my presence. This person always said yes and they were regularly underappreciated and stayed in the same place in their development.

Why do you do it?

Their reasons? I don’t know. Maybe that’s something that could become clear in coaching or self-exploration. The solution? Burnout. Burn right out. Sometimes you need to hit bottom before you realize you need to make a change.

It can be different

If this sounds like you or the path you feel you are headed, this is your sign to stop. And if you want some help with that, schedule some time with me to talk through how that could work for you. There is a way.