In today’s fast-paced corporate world, busyness is often worn as a badge of honor. The more meetings we attend, the more emails we send, the longer our to-do lists become — but the truth is, busyness doesn’t always equate to productivity and success. In fact, being too busy often means we fall short of our full potential.
Being too busy impacts our ability to think strategically, prioritise effectively, and foster a work environment where creativity and growth thrive. As author Greg McKeown argues in his book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, “If you don’t prioritise your life, someone else will.” This concept rings especially true in leadership, where being busy often means you’re reacting to demands, which eats up the majority of your time, leaving very little time and energy to be innovative and proactive. It’s crucial to have time to simply sit and think and reflect. This needs space, calmness, and an unstructured calendar.
Here’s why stepping away from busyness can lead to better outcomes, both for you and your team.
1. Busyness minimises strategic thinking
Leaders are tasked with charting the course for their organizations, a responsibility that requires clear, strategic thought. However, when every minute of the day is consumed with tasks and firefighting, there’s little room left for reflection. Instead of focusing on what will move the organisation forward, leaders become stuck in a cycle of reacting to the latest crisis.Leaders who are less busy can dedicate more time to big-picture thinking, long-term vision, and making impactful decisions. By deliberately creating space for strategic thought, they ensure that their time is spent on high-value tasks rather than minor, low-impact activities.
2. Multitasking is limiting us
Research consistently shows that multitasking can significantly reduce productivity and increase mistakes. Studies conducted by Stanford University found that heavy multitaskers performed worse on tests involving focus, memory, and task-switching than those who focused on one task at a time.
If you’re constantly juggling too many things at once, it’s likely not giving your full attention to any of them. This can result in poor decision-making and reduced quality of work. On the other hand, embracing a more focused, less busy approach leads to better results. Concentrated effort on one task at a time leads to higher quality and more innovative outcomes.
3. Being less busy allows us to build better relationships
When you’re constantly busy, your time for meaningful interactions with others becomes limited. The more time spent rushing from one meeting to the next, the less time you have totruly connect with others, listen to their concerns, or provide valuable feedback. Leaders who are less busy can invest time in building trust with their teams. These relationships foster a more engaged, motivated workforce, leading to higher levels of collaboration and innovation.
By intentionally reducing busyness, leaders can shift their focus from transactional interactions to building more meaningful connection and communication. This in turn builds stronger teams.
4. Busyness leads to burnout
According to a survey by Gallup, nearly two-thirds of workers experience burnout at some point. When leaders are burned out, their performance suffers, and the ripple effect can be felt throughout the organisation. Burnout not only affects your ability to think clearly and make good decisions but also affects emotional wellbeing.
When leaders model a less hectic work pace, they set the tone for the rest of the organisation. It sends a powerful message that well-being and work-life balance matter. Creating a culture where busyness isn’t seen as a badge of honour encourages employees to focus on doing things properly and being truly more creative and innovative.
5. Being busy means we aren’t focused on what really matters
When we aren’t too busy, we have the mental space to identify and prioritise initiatives that align with the company’s long-term vision and values, instead of getting bogged down in the weeds of day-to-day operations. As Greg McKeown puts it, “Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.” When leaders and organisations adopt this mindset, they are more likely to achieve sustainable success.
In a culture that is used to equating busyness with productivity, taking things down a notch can seem counterintuitive. By embracing a less busy, more intentional approach, leaders can unlock greater productivity, creativity, and organisational success.
How busy are you and your team? Would you benefit from being removing some of the items on your to-do list? What do you think you could achieve if you were less busy? If your leadership team could do with my help, please get in touch today, I’d love to hear from you.