“If you want something done, give it to someone who is very busy.”
My story that proves this counter-intuitive narrative
After explaining the surge in productivity I had experienced over the last week, my friend Thomas Peters recalled an old aphorism from his father: “If you want something done, give it to someone who is very busy.”
Amusing because, had he given me that advice a year ago, I would have shrugged, “OK, whatever you say,” and moved on.
The advice sounds remarkably unhelpful in today’s world, where Americans are working longer hours than any other country for stagnant wages. It has become commonplace to “be busy” and work harder, yet not get ahead in any real sense.
It is marvelous what you can accomplish when you focus on other people instead of yourself.
The real lesson I want to impart is not to work harder or longer. Filling your day with professional busy work or merely career promotion is not beneficial in the long run, as it focuses solely on you the individual. What is beneficial is filling your life with good…
