Rework

I recently read Rework which is an interesting book on business and work. It's much different than the typical business or management book. It's broken into 2-3 page snippets where the authors tackle a quick topic or subject and then move onto another topic. One of the things they advocate is not policing people's use of Facebook or You Tube while at work. They argue that workers need diversions and if you outlaw something like Facebook, they simply find another one (solitaire anyone?!?).

One of the insights that really stuck with me was when they write "you don’t need more hours- you need better hours. When people have something to do at home, they get down to business. They get their work done at the office because they have somewhere else to be. They find ways to be more efficient because they have to. As the saying goes, ‘if you want something done, ask the busiest person you know.’ You want busy people. People who have a life outside of work. People who care about more than one thing. You shouldn’t expect the job to be someone’s entire life- at least not if you want to keep them around for a long time (258).

I think a couple of thoughts when it comes to busyness. The first is that sometimes busyness can be a competition between people or families. I often don't like this because in some regard, most people are busy- they have jobs, families, hobbies, friends, volunteering, etc. It's often futile to compare one's calendar with another in order to determine who is busier.

The second thought though is that often times being busy can be seen as negative. "You're so busy" is nowadays rarely given as a compliment, but is more likely either said

a) as a statement of reality or

b) a statement of gratitude that their schedule isn't like yours!

And yet I resonate with the words from the Rework authors, because one of the benefits of busy people is they often get things done. Now, there's plenty to be said about the pitfalls of being too busy, and I certainly can see those downsides, but as a 'busy' person, it does force me to try to utilize time as best as I can, to complete tasks as efficiently as possible, because at the end of the work day, there's other things to do.