“Busy” is the answer a loser gives. The only thing I feel when people say this to me is pity. It’s a damn shame that we allow such a simple word to screw up our life and guarantee we will never achieve anything meaningful.

People are throwing the busy word around way too much. It’s meaning has become lost.

Busy is not a badge of honor either. It’s a joke.

When people drop the busy word, I think of that horrible Shania Twain song “That don’t impress me much Oh-oo-oh.”

Do you want to sound like a bad 90’s song? Of course not.

Why “busy” is the worst answer you can give.

It’s quite simple: when you say you’re busy you’re really saying to the person you’re directing it to that they’re not important – you’re pretty much making them feel like dirt.

Consider people’s feelings before you use the word busy because it’s not that far away from telling people to “F off mate!” which is what you’re really saying.

Tell the truth.

Often the word busy is an excuse or a lie. Tell the truth instead. People will respect you much more for it.

“Being faced with an opportunity that means nothing to you is okay. Tell the requester the real reason and cheer for them on the sidelines instead”

Also, be quick about it. Don’t tell people your life story or hit them with one of those automatic reply’s that has 1000 words in it and makes you sound like a total ass who is in love with themselves.

Just respond with a couple of sentences and be quick, as well as nice about it.

End of story. Thanks for playing.

Busy sounds cool. Busy is your ego talking.

That’s why people use the word. If you’re not busy, then you must not be cool or doing anything meaningful. “Why aren’t you stressed and doing Yoga” many busy people often think quietly to themselves.

My approach is a lot different. I think if you’re busy and stressed then you’re heading nowhere fast. Busy often means that the quality of your work is crap.

Busy means you are a jack of all trades master of none.

Doing lots of stuff, without focus will translate into zero time. Zero time equals busy.

My question to all the busy people is this: If you’re so busy and have zero time, what are you going to do when the opportunity of a lifetime comes by?

In reality, that’s often what happens. A great opportunity comes knocking at your door – often in disguise – and you say no because you are busy. Stupid.

Busy is a lack of discipline.

There’s that ugly mofo word again. It’s in almost every one of my blog posts. Busy is a choice that comes from someone who lacks discipline. Discipline is doing less so you can eventually experience fulfillment.

Resisting the temptation to say yes to every cold email, every Facebook message, every podcast request, every opportunity to speak in front of an audience, etc. is hard. It takes courage and guts to avoid loading up your calendar with stuff you’ll regret later, that brings you no joy.

Diet takes discipline; the gym takes discipline; business takes discipline; success takes discipline.

Wake up! Rise up!

“Embrace the art of discipline so you can avoid the mirage of busy”

Saying no takes discipline and it stops the busy train wreck.

The answer to all of this busyness talk is the word “no.”

No equals more time.
No equals focus.
No is the antidote to busy.

Say no and follow these rules:

– Be respectful
– Explain why and be honest
– Do so swiftly and don’t drag it out
– Don’t complain about it later like a sook

This advice seems harsh and that’s because it is. The trap of busy is easy to fall into and unless I explain it in harsh terms, you’ll probably dismiss it and go back to being busy. That would be a fail.

Busy means you are not present.

To translate that into psychological terms, being busy is not living in the moment which means you’re living in the future, or the past or both. The past can make you depressed and the future can make you anxious. Both these outcomes are very common with people that consider themselves busy.

“Once you throw the busy excuse in the bin, you start to find yourself living in the moment more. You have space. You have time. You can do cool stuff. You can high five if that’s your thing (it might be mine – just putting it out there)”

Confessions of a former busy person.

This advice about being busy sounds spot on, doesn’t it? You know why?

I’ll tell you why: you’re hearing the advice from someone who was the ultimate example of busyness. There were days when I didn’t even have time for a piss I was so busy. I said yes to everything and was paranoid about what people thought of me.

It was this paranoia that drove me to the madness that is busy.

I thought every yes was an opportunity and I didn’t let gut feelings or the way I felt, influence my decision-making ability. Often, I’d say yes and then feel like crap shortly after.

All of the busyness got me nowhere. I became burnt out, pissed off, negative and unproductive.

I thought busyness was being productive and that it would lead to some form of success. It was all a lie. Fast forward five years and I now have empty space, and time to do meaningful work. Win.

You have to stop being so busy. It’s messing with your ability achieve your goals.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net