20 SIGNS YOU ARE A BUSY FOOL

1} This is straight out of business school but if you haven’t seen Coveys Matrix see below.. It's one of the more useful grids to apply to your work day and task management 

2} you are failing to identify and prioritise the important tasks 

3} you are making the mistake of always just doing quadrant three tasks: urgent not important tasks 

4} you aren’t working to a strategy (yes we love the quote 'Every boxer has a strategy till they get punched in the face' but you have to work to some sort of framework rather than firefight all the time) 

5} you have no criteria to judge importance / urgency of tasks (see point above for a reference / north star) 

6} no time built into your day for thinking or taking a step back 

7} rushing everything and finishing nothing properly 

8} you aren’t blocking out the golden hour first thing in the morning to set goals and get key tasks out the way  

9} you don’t delegate / delegate well 

10} you aren’t chunking work 

11} you are taking too many needless meetings

12} you are copied into too many irrelevant emails 

13} you notice rushing has become the new normal

14} you don't build in 10 mins before every meeting to prepare and 5 mins to follow up after with any actions 

15} have you worked out how to say no to needless things and requests. If it’s not a 100% yes it’s a 1000% no 

16} you haven't systemised as much as possible for automation 

17} you arent planning out your day week month? Giving time for firefighting and changes but sticking roughly to the path? 

18} you aren't making headway into the key priorities in your day

19} you are avoiding key tasks by keeping busy on non important ones 

20} you haven’t worked out a place to find flow, the place you are your most productive and effective, a place to shut away and reach a state of effortless focus