Are You Just Busy?

There are days when I go home thinking, what did I accomplish today? This person came in asking for this and that person called wanting me to drop everything and help them do something else.By the end of the day, my to-do list is longer than it was when I started!Does this sound familiar?

I have a theory. Most of the time, we are just being busy... we are not accomplishing the really big things that we set out to do at the start of our day. This happens for many reasons. It's so easy to get distracted. And what happens is that we end up missing deadlines or feeling overwhelming pressure to finish something at the last minute.

I have a vaccine for the busy-but-not-productive bug...

Single Handle Every Task
This means that when you are working on updating the membership database, don't get distracted by incoming email, phone calls, or chatty co-workers. I recently read that when you concentrate on one task, single-mindedly, without distraction, you can get the job done 50% faster! And that starting and stopping a task can increase the time it takes you to finish it by 500%. Enough said.

Avoidance Doesn't Pay Off
Avoiding big or what we may consider hard tasks doesn't make them go away. I actually think it makes it harder for you to concentrate on what you are doing in its place. Instead of being able to focus your attention completely on the substitute task, you keep thinking about what you have to do to finish the "big one" and your productivity actually decreases. On the flip side, starting and finishing the big task will psychologically strengthen your resolve to get tackle the rest of your tasks.

Move Past Your Mistakes

When you make a mistake... and we all do... don't beat yourself up about it. Accept responsibility for the outcome. Figure out what went wrong. Create a system to make sure it doesn't happen again. It's that simple.

Don't be fooled by busyness. It is not the same as being productive. If you have the same tasks on your to-do list for weeks at a time and it's not because of someone else, you are too busy and can probably use a boost of productivity.

©2008 Church Secretary Essentials / Pensational Print Media Group

NOTE: You're welcome to use or "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete, unaltered and includes this blurb with it: Tamala M. Huntley, "The Church Secretary Coach," is the author of the revolutionary manual, "Basic Training 101: Effectively Managing Multiple Projects... A Super Easy Guide to Getting More Done, Reducing Office Clutter and Producing More With Less Stress." To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://www.ChurchSecretaryEssentials.com