Mastering the Art of Productivity: From Busyness to True Business

Mastering the Art of Productivity: In many cultures, both in general and in personal exteriorization in particular, the notion of being busy has become a symbol of importance. I have yet to decide whether it’s a self-inflated sense of importance or a facade in a culture that idealizes those who are busy. Most likely, it’s both: one to feel important and the other to gain recognition for one’s busyness, which is often mistaken for success or productivity. To an extent, in some cultures, the simple response to “How are you?” has shifted from “I’m doing great, thank you!” to simply “Working.”

This ‘busyness’ mindset, which can be potentially destructive to the unaware among us, unfortunately characterizes many entrepreneurs and business owners, but it’s not limited to them. It’s a mindset and pattern of behavior common among most people, whether they are employees, entrepreneurs, retired, or even, absurdly, unemployed. Many people use ‘busyness’ as a facade to convey importance and time scarcity, often to mask their failures or excuse their shortcomings in meeting social or family obligations.

I understand that the previous lines might raise eyebrows and maybe even provoke protests and objections. This is entirely understandable, and I respect that. However, even though my statement appears somewhat collective and somewhat definitive, at its core, I stand by it.

Let’s break that down a bit:

I differentiate between ‘being busy’ and ‘doing business,’ ‘working’ and ‘doing work.’ The fine difference lies in the simple equation of productivity and efficiency. Many people, including entrepreneurs, confuse ‘being busy,’ which often involves merely filling time with ‘work,’ with ‘doing business,’ which is aimed at personal or professional growth. They fall into the trap of equating constant activity with productivity and success. However, business effectiveness is not measured by how occupied you are or how much your time is filled; it’s not about being too busy to even read a report, for example. Strangely enough, those tasks that are often left out under the excuse of busyness are usually the ones that lie outside our comfort zone or areas where we lack knowledge. 

Another consequence of this ‘busyness’ mindset is that it leads us to bury ourselves in day-to-day tasks. While these tasks are necessary, they often don’t directly contribute to our growth or success. This situation is akin to the old saying: ‘We can’t see the forest for the trees.’

On the other hand, ‘doing business’ or ‘doing work,’ even though they might consume a significant portion of our time and energy, are focused on productivity and efficiency. At their core, ‘doing business’ is about creating value; it’s a strategic endeavor aimed at generating sustainable contributions to our goals, whether they are business or personal.

The ‘doing business’ mindset is driven by three main sources that illuminate the efficient usage of resources:

1. Deep understanding of the importance of ‘environmental control’ in seizing opportunities or avoiding unnecessary risks driven by a methodical assessment process.
2. Deep awareness of the processes that genuinely contribute to our goals.
3. A deep level of self-confidence.

These three sources impose a strategic mindset that values the ‘relative impact’ of our activities rather than merely fulfilling tasks, sometimes with close to no impact or contribution to the realization of our goals. It drives us toward market growth by focusing on generating sustainable revenue and fostering customer relationships. This mindset involves making informed decisions, leveraging opportunities, and pursuing goals that align with the company’s or personal vision.

The main sign that we are starting to adopt the ‘doing business’ approach is when we begin to conduct a methodical process of assessment, followed by a systematic process of decision-making that sets priorities, timelines, and delegation or outsourcing efforts.

The assessment process

The assessment process, which I will delve into more in-depth in one of my upcoming articles, serves as the bedrock and foundation for our transition from ‘being busy’ to ‘doing business.’ It reveals the closest version of reality and environment we are operating in, exposing futile efforts and highlighting productive ones while facilitating the detection of opportunities and risks. In contrast, ‘being busy’ often equates to being buried under a flurry of activities that may lack strategic direction, blinding us from what truly propels our advancement and gets us closer to our goals. It’s characterized by a focus on tasks that, while they may consume time and energy, don’t necessarily contribute to the business’s bottom line.

Up to this point, I trust that most readers have thought of the Pareto principle of 20/80. This principle illustrates the point brought up so far. As many know, the 20/80 principle states that 80% of our productivity is determined by 20% of our activities, and 20% of our productivity, is led by 80% of the activities. What this means is that the vast majority of our activities have close to no contribution to our growth and productivity, which in itself is a shocking fact. It is true that most, if not all, of these activities in the 80% are essential and that most of them need to be executed. The question is whether those activities are bound to be executed by us all the time and with the same priority as the 20%, or if they could be delegated, outsourced, or deprioritized to the status of marginal activities.

I have to stress that marginalizing activities or delegating them does not absolve us of our responsibility and accountability as entrepreneurs, leaders or even as individuals. We will still need to make sure those activities are fulfilled properly and efficiently, but this would take only 10% of the time that would have been consumed if we were to do them ourselves.

The idea of concentrating our energy on the 20% that gives a relative impact of 80% on our achievements cannot be achieved if we don’t first prioritize or marginalize activities. And this, in turn, cannot be achieved without a methodical assessment process that reveals the nature of the impact of each activity.

I believe that, in order for an entrepreneur or a leader to assume the mindset of ‘doing business,’ they need a high level of self-confidence driven by belief, understanding, and strategic analytical abilities, rather than the mere facade they want others to see. I also believe that as leaders, these byproducts of self-confidence project strength and clarity to others around us, allowing us to reconnect with our employees, managers, and even friends. This offers support to their hardships and elevates their confidence and self-esteem, which, in turn, reinforces our leadership and contributes to the growth we desire, whether in business or personally.

The other pillar that supports the ‘doing business’ mindset is Awareness. Awareness acts like a ‘sonar,’ detecting the dynamics of our environment in its multidimensional nature. It sharpens our business senses to detect bottlenecks, hiccups, or futile efforts that have no contribution to our goals. It also enhances our senses to social and personal dynamics that, if left undetected, could eventually hinder our progress.

I acknowledge that detecting the activities that hold the highest relative impact on our results and can show tangible advancement in our endeavors is somewhat challenging, even tricky. In the everyday struggle, tasks and expectations, it’s likely that the dust of busyness could cloud our sight, making it difficult to distinguish the important from the urgent or the crucial from the familiar. This is why we should have a roadmap, a plan. This plan is a multilevel plan, starting from strategic planning and the business plan, drilling down to yearly and quarterly plans, and ending with a clear monthly agenda backed by tasksembedded in  “Gantt charts” and defined, measurable subgoals that support our main goals.

We also need to deepen our self-awareness and examine the tasks and activities facing us, both big and small, as one. We need to acknowledge which of those align with our values (not just moral values, but in the sense of resonance). Delegating or outsourcing tasks that we don’t know or don’t enjoy doing needs to come from a sense of necessity that contributes to a smarter allocation of self-resources to other, more important activities or reduces the learning curve and minimizes mistakes along the way.

Of course, this is not the only factor in which we need to conclude our inspection. There is the question of ‘relative impact.’ Entrepreneurs and leaders should fill their time with those activities that have the most impact on their goals, even if those activities are somewhat unknown or challenging for them or don’t fully resonate with them. Of course, they can still delegate to a high-level manager while keeping full involvement in the process. The ‘relative impact’ concept is one of the most important concepts in the art of management. Understanding and adopting it is one of those patterns that identify leaders and foster leadership. The consequences of the ‘relative impact’ concept are not confined to the usage of time or resources; it is a management skill that mobilizes business and personal dynamics, contributing to the multidimensional reality of our business or personal lives and affecting those we interact with, thus contributing to their growth and self-esteem.

Prioritization

It is imperative for leaders to know how to prioritize their resources. Management or leadership that is blinded by urgency or ‘comfort zones’ in activities will likely exhaust an organization’s resources (or, in the case of an individual, their own resources) without ensuring attention to crucial tasks that propel growth and tangible advancement.

It is likely that some of us do not possess all these insights or abilities, which is normal and okay. The good news is that all these skills we discussed so far can be acquired. We can learn them, and we can develop them, provided we are aware of the need of them.

Our journey to acquire these skills begins with a deep understanding and emphasis on the ‘Why’ question, the reason our endeavors are taking place. Reminding ourselves of the ‘Why’ – the Goal – at each waking moment motivates us and drives us forward. We also need to persist with the ‘How.’ While the ‘How’ can be adjusted here and there depending on our assessment, we need to persist and stick to its principles. This, in turn, will generate a system that slowly but surely achieves high levels of efficiency and most likely productivity.

Lastly, we cannot endeavor this journey without embracing a holistic approach that deals with our own inner circles. We must drive a process of expanding our knowledge and skill sets, focus on mindfulness, sharpen our awareness, and make habits adjustments.

See the entire forest without losing sight of the single tree

‘Being busy’ just to fill time and externalize a false sense of importance, compared to ‘Doing business’ for the sake of growth and real achievement, is a tricky trap that even the best of us can fall into. Understanding these principles helps us evaluate our efforts and adjust the allocation of our resources. It is a crucial distinction that underscores the importance of focusing not just on the quantity of work done, but on the quality and impact of that work. Understanding this difference helps entrepreneurs and any individuals prioritize their efforts effectively, ensuring that their ‘business’ is indeed productive and aligns with their financial, business, personal, or any other objectives they may have.

Remember, there is never enough time for everything, but there is always time for the important things; finding those will significantly increase your chances of success.

SLAM empowers leaders to cultivate self-awareness, driving systemization, effective delegation, and strategic execution. This approach fosters clarity, builds trust, and enhances influence, enabling leaders to create meaningful impact and align their vision with team success.

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