You Can’t Do Meaningful Work If You Are Too Busy

Many years back, when I was in a corporate setting, my calendar used to be completely loaded a couple of weeks in advance. Business reviews with teams, scheduled management forums, administrative tasks to be completed, business planning to be done- different types of priorities jostled for my time, and most times, the priorities organized themselves into my calendar.

My days were completely filled up with no blank spaces anywhere. I was running from one activity to the other, trying to keep pace. My calendar dictated what I did. It did not matter if the meeting was about a problem that needed to be solved. When the scheduled time for the session ended, so did my involvement. I had to move to the next meeting that needed my attention.

I thought that work was making me move forward, I felt that filling my time with work was equal to moving forward. How wrong I was !!.

Like most people, I had also fallen into the trap of mistaking motion for progress, thinking that working very hard was equal to moving forward.

In time I realized that there is a difference between being busy and doing meaningful work.

Being busy means going through the motions clocking down the time.

Meaningful work is one where you are connected to a higher purpose in whatever you are doing. Unfortunately, meaningful work, by definition, is the opposite of being busy. It is about doing work at your own pace, not controlled by the tyranny of your calendar.

Being busy creates an illusion of being productive, but meaningful work is what really makes you productive and helps you grow. But, for you to do real meaningful work, you must not be busy.