10 Ways to be Less Busy

If you would like to feel less busy in your life and work but don't know where to start, you are not alone. We live in a society where busy seems to have become the default mode in life and work.

Yet being busy all the time has a lot of negative consequences. For example, it makes you less effective which can negatively impact achieving the results that matter most to you. You are more likely to make more mistakes. It can negatively impact decision making as your brain struggles to juggle everything. Not to mention the havoc it wreaks on your health, wellbeing, stress levels and relationships.

The good news is that just because you feel busy all the time now doesn't mean you have to stay that way. The start point is to just make a decision to stop settling for it. That is it. Just start by making the decision that enough is enough. You don't have to know how you will sort it all out at the beginning. Believe in your ability to figure that out as you move forward.

Keep this in mind: What you tolerate persists. Stop tolerating.  

If you have made the decision to find ways to be less busy, here are some ideas to help you get started. 

10 Ways to be Less Busy

1. Start seeing being busy as a choice. Because it is. Being constantly busy is a combination of behaviours, habits, mindset, and social conditioning gone mad. And all of those things are within your power to change.  
2. Embrace pacing. It is the antidote to busyness. Visualise the benefits you would get from adopting pacing in your life and work. Take action to create that.
3. Stop multitasking. Embrace single tasking. Not only will this help you to feel less busy, it will improve your effectiveness.
4. Start saying no more. Stop taking on too much.
5. Stop giving everything the same level of priority and importance. Get clear on what is truly important. Prioritise those things.
6. Stop being contactable and immediately available to everyone 24/7. Switch off notifications. Constant interruptions and distractions to your day and schedule play havoc with your effectiveness, productivity, and results and increase your busyness.
7. Have a plan. Work the plan. It helps you stop slipping into the busy trap.
8. Build in contingency times. Things often take longer than we think they well or don’t go according to plan. Build in contingency time to allow for that.
9. Schedule downtime, rests and breaks. It might feel counter-intuitive when you feel constantly busy, but research shows that doing that will improve your effectiveness and productivity. Sometimes the best way forward is to take a step back! 

10. Set, implement and maintain strong personal boundaries. This is a great way to reduce and manage busyness and to protect what matters most.

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