I like to say that my house is a zoo. It is not a three ring circus. That implies that the wildlife is trained. The wildlife at my house, well - it is not trained. When I bump into people any the office and they ask about the kids, the conversation usually goes in one direction. They'll look surprised that I have three kids four and under. (In Seattle, when you've had your third kid, it might as well be your tenth.) Then I'll say my little bit about the zoo and the circus which typically leads to this statement: "You must be so busy."
Yes, well, something like that. But busy means something different to me now. I will no longer call my self busy. Are things chaotic around the house? Definitely. Did I have to step away from writing this for a while because potty training was going sideways? Yes. But I will not subscribe to "busy" as a measure of effectiveness or success. (Chase Jarvis discusses this topic in his book #creativecalling). Here I'd like to dive into two artificial measures of productivity: email and meetings.
At work, typically the call to busy arrives in the form of email. Most of it is an unnecessary time drain, sucking the potential and effectiveness of an otherwise productive, effective day. Have you ever gotten to the bottom of your inbox and wondered, "What have I really done today?" I've felt the satisfaction of reducing the size of my inbox before, it disguises itself as a lucrative, important use of your time. So much of it, in my professional and personal capacities, email automated news letters and mass emails masquerading as urgent. Most of the time? It's not worthy, Don't get me wrong, email can be an important tool for communication, reach and communication. But it is not a substitute for a real conversation. It is a tool. Email is not, on its own, commerce, good customer service or effective communication. Can the tool be used in service of these objectives? Of course.
It is not, for the most part, the important work we need to do for the day. For the week, for the year. Spending endless hours sorting, deleting and replying to countless purposeless messages is not productivity or effectiveness. Email's reach should be contained, planned and prioritized like the other functions in our lives. Have you ever wondered how much of your year you spend in service of your inbox? What if you could use that same time for something more? To strategize? To plan? To execute strategies? Or prevent fire fights?
Then there are meetings. Some companies love meetings. The number of meetings can seem like a measure of success. Do you have four conflicting meetings on your calendar? The more important you are, it seems, the denser the schedule. It is a virtuous cycle of meetings and emails. Meetings become measure of busyness, And busyness rewards itself with more busyness.
Meetings and emails are important in the right circumstances, when they have purposes, objectives and deliver results or decisions. But busyness in itself is not satisfying, rewarding or productive. You want to see efficiency? Ask a mother of three little kids, a full time job and hobbies to get something done for you.
At home these measure are, perhaps, dishes and laundry. These chores are never ending, If you wait until dishes, laundry, email and meetings are always done to get on with life, to enjoy your family, or pursue a hobby or a goal, probably there will never be a good time to start. It is not the time we have, it is the time we make for what is important.
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