I’m too busy. I’m just too busy. But what you don’t understand is “I’M TOO BUSY!”
It never fails that any time I’m in an agency I hear “I’m too busy”. And it’s generally within the first 30 minutes. We just got into the office and we are too busy. But we aren’t too busy to get coffee, text our family or sit down for an office lunch. Watch our 3 Minute Training Video on “Too Busy”.
Uggghh…. I digress. I’m not insisting we run things like a work camp but I am frustrated that the “I’m too busy” thing has become what we just say to everyone.
By the way this blog is not just for team members. Owners, we have seen you be too busy too! Maybe we are too busy to pull together the incentive program we need. Or too busy to call a client back. Too busy can’t be the way we run our business.
So how do we stop the hysteria? We just stop being busy. Yes, put a swear jar in the center of the agency and anyone who says “I’m too…” has to pay the piper. Here are some synonyms for “busy”:
- Active
- Working
- Employed (my personal favorite)
- Hustling
- Perservering
- Bustling
- Popping
- Energetic
Start using the right language so we can overcome the “I’m to XXXX.”
So what do you do when you hit the too busy blues. Here are three steps we always recommend:
Step 1: Cleanse
Sounds like you are too busy to be organized but disorganization leads to, well more work, more mistakes and apathy to the get it done attitude. You need to start with a nice cleanse:
- Get your inbox down to under 50 (should be under 20 but… you will find things) – also unsubscribe to all the junk you normally get
- Clean your desk, yes all the papers gone. Think of your desk as a place paper rests not resides.
- Open up the management system, your suspense should be CURRENT. Current suspense are not a mythical creature; they are what good agents do!
Now there needs to be a Cleansing reward if everyone can do it. Maybe a happy hour or a happy dance. If it’s really bad think of closing early on a Friday and the people who pass inspection get to go home. Hold tight and watch the emails get attached!
Step 2: Goal & Accountability
It’s amazing how someone checking in on you makes you do things. It’s as if we won’t let someone else down but we are perfectly happy making ourselves miserable.
We have to have a goal for the items above in the cleanse. I think we should say that Friday by 4pm all three of those items are buttoned up and under control in your insurance agency. Every person, no excuses. When this is the standard we can all rise to the occasion. When we are consistently disorganized that’s what leads to chaos and more importantly that’s what leads to a sense that everyone is running around on fire. It just must have to be that way.
Step 3: Lather, Rinse, Repeat
How many of you start a new diet every Monday?
That’s because some how last week you fell off the band wagon and dodged your accountability partner (or you and your accountability partner met at a donut stand rather than a coffee shop) and now you want a fresh start. It’s what we do consistently that matters. If you want to diet sometimes, good luck. If you want to manage your suspense sometimes, awesome but that won’t work. We have to make organization and being on top of our desk a priority.
Don’t be too busy to be better. You need to make sure you focus on being efficient and effective for your whole team. Also, it’s ok to need help breaking the busy cycle!
