They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person. But why is that?
I always found this a bit funny. It sounds a bit contradictory, doesn’t it? Surely a busy person won’t have time to do more. When you only have a couple of things to do, sometimes you end up doing neither, but if you have lots to do, you can get more done as it builds up the momentum.
People who do a lot tend to have developed a few areas, they get to know how much time a task can take, they don’t waste time, and have become more efficient and productive. They are also more likely to be reliable otherwise they wouldn’t be trusted with work. If a busy person says no to you, they have thought it through and wouldn’t want to disappoint and not deliver.
Over the years, I’ve found that timeboxing has saved me on many an occasion. Knowing that a task fills the time you give it, you dedicate a certain amount of time to it. That way you know you’ll have something by the end of it, even if it is just a draft. It’s far easier and less time consuming to work on a draft than nothing.
I wouldn’t go from 0 to 60 without a bit of practice though. If you want to do more, start taking on more…slowly J