Why Being ‘Busy’ Does Not Mean You’re Being Productive

Many people see being busy as a badge of honour, believing it shows that they’ve got important tasks to handle, and that they work hard to earn their income. This goes hand-in-hand with the assumption that people who have free time on their hands are not as important or don’t work as hard as those who are always rushing busily around.

This simply isn’t true. Being busy isn’t the same as working efficiently. Busy people who constantly multi-task across different projects often lack organization and planning, which can increase the amount of time it takes to complete tasks by 25%. Being busy isn’t necessarily a sign of success, either – particularly if the pace of work is unsustainable.

If all this sounds familiar, this free time management test will help you assess how you’re coping with your workload and make necessary adjustments to your to-do list and schedule. In the meantime, here are some more reasons why being busy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re productive:

1. Long list of priorities

Busy people have a long list of priorities and struggle to complete everything. They don’t know how to sort their projects according to priorities and are forced to juggle them or multi-task. A long list of priorities makes you less productive and more prone to making mistakes.

Productive people narrow down their list of priorities to ensure they’re manageable on a day-to-day basis. This helps them handle every task or project at one time and complete each of them efficiently and in a timely manner. When you work this way, you have some free time to yourself at the end of the day and aren’t as busy as most people in your position would be.

2. Taking on more projects than they can handle

Some people like to be the go-to person and take on more tasks or projects than they can handle. They don’t know how to say “no” and accept tighter deadlines, new projects, new tasks, etc., without considering the impact these additions would have on their schedule or productivity.

Productive people understand the value of saying “no”. They have a fixed schedule prepared beforehand and don’t accept any changes or additions unless it’s truly urgent. They also carefully consider how much time each task or project would take, before they add it to their schedule. If you struggle to say “no,” here are three guilt-free strategies that should make it easier!

3. Multi-tasking

As mentioned before, multi-tasking can reduce efficiency by 25%. It can also add to your stress and make you feel dissatisfied and lost at the end of the day. People who multi-task are also more likely to make mistakes and deliver poor results. According to research Microsoft has conducted, it takes the brain 15 minutes to refocus on a task after it’s distracted. If you switch between two different tasks, you’ll take longer to complete them both.

Productive people focus on one task at a time and get it done before moving on. Because they’re not distracted when they perform the task, they can complete it quickly and efficiently. At the end of the day, they get more done than people who multitask, and so feel more accomplished.

4. Easily burn out

Busy people are constantly on the go and fill their schedules to the brim. They don’t allow themselves any breathing space in between tasks. Your brain can become fatigued and you’ll feel its effects in the form of regular exhaustion. Most adults can remain focused on a single task for 20 minutes. You can study or work for 90 minutes before your brain starts to drift away and lose concentration. This will eventually lead to burnout and stress. This article will help you identify whether you’re experiencing burnout and give you some coping techniques.

Productive people are aware of these limitations and often segment their day effectively. Once they have finished one task, they take a small break to refresh their mind before moving onto another one; this helps them avoid burnout and stress. They are able to maintain high energy levels and work enthusiastically, which makes them more productive.

5. Getting involved in the process

Busy people are very process-oriented and focus more on the smaller details rather than the bigger picture. They’re also perfectionists that spend more time than they need to on any given project. As a result of this process-oriented approach, these individuals are always busy and stressed. They don’t receive any satisfaction from their job and eventually lose all enthusiasm for it.

Productive people are result-oriented and will take the most effective, efficient, and comfortable approach to their goals. They won’t spend unnecessary time on the details; instead, they focus on the quality of the results. This ensures they get things done quickly and on schedule. They also gain more satisfaction from their efforts and feel better at the end of their workday.

You can be successful, productive, and hardworking without being busy. You just need to plan your day, learn how to say no, delegate some tasks, and focus on personal development. This will help you avoid stress and ensure you have a more balanced lifestyle. The lower stress levels will also have a positive impact on your productivity and skills, so your performance at work will improve, too. You can’t lose – so give it a go.

In what ways can you improve your productivity by not being ‘busy?’ Tell us about it in the comments.

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The 7 Essential Elements of Effective Social Media Marketing

By now you know it’s a bad idea to be a digital sharecropper and build your business entirely on someone else’s land (like Facebook, Tumblr, or any other third party you don’t control).

But you may be asking yourself, “What type of social media marketing should I be doing?”

How are savvy businesses using social media effectively to find more customers, boost their reputations, and make more sales?

Here are the seven essentials that will turn your social media marketing from an annoying time-waster to an effective bottom-line booster.

1. Get your home base together

Your home base is your website. It’s on a domain you own. You control the user experience — from the content to the site design to the user interface.

This is where you show that you know your stuff. That means building a nice cornerstone of high-quality content that demonstrates your expertise in a likeable, accessible way.

First impressions matter, so make sure the design is clean, professional, and smart. It can still be stylish or funky if that’s your thing, but it shouldn’t look amateurish or confusing.

Your home base is where you post content to answer your readers’ questions, give them interesting tips, and help solve their annoying problems.

When someone wants to know more about you, this is where you send them.

Your home base is a content marketing tool, which means you need to be communicating primarily with customers, not with other experts in your topic.

Don’t just pontificate to show what you know — tie your news and opinions back to how those things affect your customers.

2. Who’s the face of your business?

If you want to use social networking platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, you need a human face to make your social media marketing work.

So, does that mean potential customers want to know about your personal struggles finding high-quality organic dog food? No. (Unless your company sells organic dog food, that is.)

Just like people have always done in public settings (work, church, volunteer activities), you’re going to adopt a persona — a selected range of your thoughts, emotions, and observations.

You don’t want to share absolutely everything about the “real” you with your social media connections.

You’re going to be social and informal, but in a way that’s relevant, appropriate, and interesting to who you’re talking with.

That doesn’t mean I want you to be a fraud. I want you to be friendly and genuine. Sound like a human being, not a corporate robot.

And you certainly don’t have to stick to business all the time. It’s fine and good to show that you have a life. It’s not so good to show the world you’re careless, rude, or boring.

The truth is, the definition of “appropriate” depends on your audience.

If it works for your customers, it’s appropriate.

Authenticity for a business doesn’t come from oversharing or boring your audience to death — it lies in doing what you say you’ll do.

3. Who else has your customers?

Social networking platforms were designed to make it easy and fun for people to hang out together. That means you’re going to use them to build relationships that will help your business.

Look for people who have healthy-sized audiences who are a good fit for your product or service.

They may be bloggers, they may be authors, they may have a popular podcast or column in mainstream media. They may simply be social media mavens who have lots of friends and like to share good stuff.

These are the people you want to share and promote your excellent content.

Cultivating professional relationships isn’t rocket science. Stick to the basics — link to them from your content, comment intelligently on their blogs and social platforms, and be a nice person.

Don’t think that picking fights or manufacturing controversy makes you stand out. It doesn’t; it just makes you look like a troll.

If you’re going to take a controversial position, make sure it’s one that really matters, and express it with respect.

4. Pick a primary platform

Again, think about where your customers are.

If you love Twitter but your customers spend hours every day on Facebook, you need to recognize that Facebook is probably a better venue for your business. It may not be as fun for you — but that’s why they call it work.

Only move beyond your primary platform when you’re sure you’re handling it well. A lot depends on the industry you’re in.

If you’re a copywriter, social media consultant, or professional content marketer, your customers spend a lot of time in these venues, which means you probably will too.

5. Manage your time

If you don’t decide how much time and focus you’ll put into social media, the default will be “all of it.”

Sites like Twitter and Facebook are seductive places to drop in and just check what’s new.

But when your five-minute check turns into twenty-five minutes, and you’re doing that four or five times a day per site, you’re going to find your productivity taking a dive.

Remember your home base. That (and actually delivering whatever it is you do) are where the bulk of your time and energy need to go.

The best tool I’ve found for managing social media time is a $3 kitchen timer. Decide in advance how much time you’ll spend checking in and being social, set your timer, and stick to it.

6. Content first, conversation second

You’ve been told again and again by social media “experts” that your entire business should revolve around something called “The Conversation.”

Too often, this form of Conversation leads to business owners spending hours every day chattering with potential customers and hoping someone will buy something. (Or, more often, chattering with peers and friends and hoping this counts as work.)

Yes, be personable. Yes, keep an ear out for customer complaints so you can respond appropriately. And yes, network with peers in your industry to keep your links healthy.

But if it feels like goofing around all day instead of working, it probably is.

Instead, spend the bulk of your time creating content, whether it’s on your own home base or for a guest post so you can find a wider audience.

Use content to educate your customers about what they need to know to make an intelligent purchase. Focus on customer objections, questions, and problems.

When you find someone else’s content that your customers will find valuable, share that too — and add a few insights of your own, if you like.

Even a 100-character tweet can have content value. Think about what you can say that makes readers’ lives better, rather than just filling up time before you run to Starbucks.

Make sure your reader has a good experience every time she hears from you. Keep it both useful and entertaining.

Social media conversation is a seasoning that makes your content more appetizing. It’s not the main dish.

7. Don’t forget SEO

Too many people think that social media sharing means they don’t need SEO anymore. The fact is, social media marketing is a superb complement to SEO.

Play the long game.

The same elements that make social media work (sharing content that’s both useful and user-friendly, doing what you say you’ll do, building healthy relationships with others in your industry) are the elements search engines prefer to serve up.

Search engines want to find the content that’s a widely valued resource.
Skip the time-wasting ego game

For too many businesses, social media is a time-wasting ego game.

But use the tools strategically — with a focus on content and getting a useful message in front of a wider audience — and they can be brilliantly effective.

How about you? What do you consider the most essential element of social media marketing?

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