When Busy Isn't Moving You Forward

Do you ever find you can be busy from morning until evening and still feel as though you haven't moved anything important forward?

I know I can.

There are days when everything seems to be competing for my attention. Emails, admin, work, training, messages, appointments, things around the house and projects I genuinely want to move forward.

I can be doing things all day and still finish feeling more frazzled than productive.

And yet, sometimes I genuinely love a good admin afternoon.

There is something very satisfying about sitting down and clearing a pile of smaller jobs, answering emails, booking appointments, sorting paperwork and closing a few of those little loops that have been sitting in the back of my mind. I usually finish feeling lighter.

And I think there is real value in that. Small wins can create momentum. They clear some of the mental clutter and can make the bigger things feel a little easier to tackle.

I know that works for me.

But I am also realising that I can't let those small wins take over all the available time.

There are some things that simply don't get moved forward by answering another five emails.

Sometimes I need to shut out the noise and give proper attention to the thing I have been putting off, but know will make a difference. And that can be much harder.

For me, one of those things at the moment is putting myself out there more.

A friend and I have started challenging each other to post more on LinkedIn and social media because neither of us finds it particularly natural. We laugh about the fact that we aren't from the generation that grew up sharing everything publicly or feeling completely at ease putting ourselves out there.

It feels uncomfortable.

And because it feels uncomfortable, it is remarkably easy to find ten other things to do first.

There is always something that feels more urgent, more familiar or simply easier.

But if I'm honest with myself, writing, sharing ideas and putting my work into the world are some of the things that will genuinely move me forward.

So, perhaps the question isn't how much I can get done. It's what actually deserves my attention?

I'm finding it helpful to narrow that down to one or two things.

They don't necessarily need to be finished that week, but they do need some movement.

That feels much more manageable and it stops everything from having equal importance.

Because that's where I tend to get into trouble.

If everything matters, everything competes. I end up giving little bits of attention to all of it rather than enough attention to the things that really count. Sport taught me something about this too.

Big performances were never built from one spectacular training session. They came from turning up regularly and doing the work over time.

But there were also times when you had to step up and do something that felt harder than what you were comfortable with.

I think work and life are much the same.

The everyday things matter. They keep things moving and give us a sense of progress. But there are also things that need us to stop, concentrate and give them our full attention.

For me, the challenge at the moment is making room for both.

So I'm trying to ask myself two questions:

What small thing can I clear that will help me build some momentum?

And what is the thing I know, if I gave it proper time and attention, would genuinely move me forward?

Then I need to make sure I actually leave some space for the answer.

Because the goal isn't simply to be busy. It's to keep moving towards the things that matter.

Sometimes that means clearing the noise. Sometimes it means sitting down with the thing I've been avoiding.

And I suspect I will need to keep reminding myself of that.

Thank you for taking the time to read 'When Busy Isn't Moving You Forward'. If there are any other topics that you'd be keen to hear more about, I'd love to know. Please drop me an email at hello@kateslatter.com.

When Busy Isn't Moving You Forward

By Kate Slatter