Are you productive or just busy?

We’re nearing the end of the first quarter for 2021, a good time to take stock of the progress of our goals and of our time. Whether it’s time well spent, or on the flip-side, time lost in the black hole of procrastination. Have you been productive, or just busy as you attempt to be productive? Have you been able to make good progress or reach goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year?

Ever since I began to create quarterly business plans, I’ve learned to use the end of each quarter as an opportunity to re-evaluate how I’ve been managing my time. It’s a necessary requirement because many days, I feel “busy” and yet have a hard time describing exactly how I’ve been “productive.” 

I’ve read multiple articles and books and signed up for various webinars about time management. I’ll admit it’s not always easy to follow the advice offered by others. I currently write from home so I manage my time differently; but not very long ago I was a working mom with an office job while I wrote in my spare time. All working moms know how difficult it can be to keep a balance between work and home life. It’s even more difficult when you add a side business to the mix. 

So how can we do it all without eventually crashing and burning? 

I’ve found that the trick is to find a way to manage my time in a way that works for me. By taking the advice of others but not holding myself strictly to that advice, when it might not be the right fit for my current season in life. I’ll tweak ideas until I find the right fit.

One piece of advice is to spend a few days, or better yet a full week, tracking every hour of your day in blocks of, say, 15 minute increments. It may seem tedious, but it’s worth a shot to hold yourself accountable in order to find the black holes in the day that suck up your time. I’ve tackled this task throughout the years and I’ll admit, I’m able to manage only a few days before I get bored. However, even those few days give me the highlights and a better idea of where large blocks of time are spent, or wasted. You have to be honest with yourself about where your time is spent to uncover where available time is hidden. 

It’s hard to be productive if you’re too busy

If you’ve heard of the tip about tracking your time but haven’t gotten around to it, there’s something to be said about that. Does that mean you’re too busy to even keep track of your time? If so, I’d say it’s something you might want to try. Especially if you want to make a change because you always feel busy but never productive. And there is a difference!

Whenever I feel lost in the busyness of my days, I try to take a step back, reconsider what I need to do to take control of the hours of my day (as much as possible, anyway), and begin feeling productive rather than just busy. As I said, I’ve had to tackle this method a few times throughout the years, during different seasons in my life, so I thought I’d share what I’ve learned.

Here are 7 helpful tips when it comes to staying productive rather than just being busy:

• Make a daily or weekly to-do list but keep it focused to what’s most important for that time frame. Try to complete the top priority tasks first (or the dreaded ones you wish to get over with) so that the rest of the day, or week, feels less demanding.
• For tasks that require more energy or creativity, such as exercising or writing, choose the time of day when you have the energy level or heightened creativity. It can be difficult when the bulk of your day is spent at the day job, but eventually you can accomplish more if you figure out what time of the day you can be the most productive. This idea also works well for tasks you need to complete at work; if mornings are your best, try to tackle the big projects during that time and leave the afternoons free for smaller, less demanding projects.
• Don’t let yourself get distracted, unless it’s really important, from the task at hand. Multitasking doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get more done and it can also hinder your focus. Spend the required time you anticipated the task would take to complete before moving on to something else. If something can wait, let it wait.
• Say no if you need to and don’t stress about what others think. Of course, telling your boss “no” might not be an option but then again, if you feel overwhelmed at work, express yourself or figure out how to delegate tasks so you aren’t taking on too much.
• Speaking of work, don’t bring it home with you, even if home is where you work. Home is where you should shed the day from your mind and off your shoulders, relax for the evening and spend well-deserved time with your family. 
• Find the time to cater to yourself – it’s not a selfish notion, but a very important need every person should fulfill so that they don’t feel as if every part of them belongs to someone else. We are daughters, wives, mothers, granddaughters, nieces, friends, employees, etc. We mean something to so many people, we risk losing the identity of what we mean to ourselves. “Me time” is necessary to revitalize and center our well-being in order to prevent the overwhelming feelings we invite after giving so much of ourselves to others. 
• And, finally, let go of the guilt…whatever may bring it on. Be kind to yourself. We tend to be hardest on ourselves and if those who matter most can forgive us our faults, then we should be able to, as well. 

Here’s to making a positive change when it comes to managing time. Here’s to being able to respond to the question of ‘how are you?’ with something other than, ‘I’ve been so busy!’

If you’ve been able to find a strategy that works for you, please share in the comments. I’d also enjoy hearing about more time management tips from anyone who believes they’ve mastered the task.