Too busy? No, you’re not.
Aren’t you worth your time?
Dear Live Your Opus Composers (can I call you that now?)
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by busy-ness yet questioned whether you’re truly moving forward?
When your daily routine is more about keeping up than making progress, it’s time to shift your focus.
Take yesterday as an example: I spent the entire day working on my book without starting a single sentence.
You might wonder how that’s possible, but stepping away from writing to work on key elements of the book’s purpose and structure was precisely what I needed to move forward. I wasn’t off-plan, per se, but I was at a point in the writing process where I needed to step back and see the whole picture again. That time was more valuable than any writing would’ve been.
I had just experienced a vital distinction: working on your life, career, or project fundamentally differs from working in it.
When you work on something, you’re in strategy mode—visioning, planning, and aligning your efforts with your larger goals. Working in something means you’re knee-deep in execution, often busy, and task or near-term goal-focused. Both modes are necessary, but if you only work in your job or career or just live your life instead of working on it, you’ll likely lose sight of the bigger picture.
This slight lens shift–on vs. in–enables you to consider your longer-term goal or vision while executing and living in the present.
A tale of two clients
Meet Jennifer and Derek, two high-achievers actively managing their careers: Jennifer has just launched a side hustle, and Derek is a director at a growing media agency.
Despite their success, both had hectic day-to-day activities to lead and were experiencing leadership challenges, including fears and worries of failure, uncertainty, and a lack of confidence and direction. Both knew they wanted ‘more’ from their work.
To create space, I suggested that each set aside 20 minutes a day and an hour a week to work ‘on’ their businesses (and lives and careers) rather than ‘in’ them.
The 20 minutes daily were designed for daily reflection. The one hour a week would provide time to take stock of their progress and consider the bigger picture.
Derek struggled with this idea, feeling like 20 minutes a day would slow him down and wondering how he would fill the time. But, by the time I suggested it to Jennifer, she’d already come to the realization on her own.
To prepare for our sessions, she’d had to create time for reflection and planning, and she was surprised at how much time she needed to work ‘on’ herself and her priorities that fell outside of working ‘in’ the ongoing projects in the business. Making and using the time was uncomfortable at first; it felt easier to keep on task with her work plans.
Over time, this technique became just another tool in their toolbox, with each carving out regular time to pull back and reflect on the whole of their work. The result was a sense of clarity and calm about where they were going and how they would get there. Jennifer and Derek worked on many other areas, to be sure, but this lens shift and corresponding practice helped them to take back control, a critical step in better handling the challenges they faced.
Too many people find themselves perpetually busy, caught up in the daily grind, without taking the time to step back and reflect. I remember this well from my corporate days.
But chronic busy-ness leads to a lack of agency—or a perceived lack of agency—that permeates your life, making it easy for external demands to take control.
The worst part of not setting aside time to work on your ambitions? You risk being along for the ride rather than calling the shots in your life.
So, how do you shift this dynamic?
My simple approach is to Take 20 & Take Stock.
Take 20: Like Jennifer and Derek, start by carving out time to reflect intentionally on your goals. I recommend 20-30 minutes daily, preferably at the beginning or end of the day.
& Take Stock: During that time, reflect on the bigger picture, not the details. You might grab a pen and a journal and consider these prompts, depending on your situation, and make up your own prompts as well:
What went well today/this week? What was challenging? What did I learn?
How do my daily activities/work/focus areas align with my long-term goals?
What do I need to let go of to make room for my priorities?
What skills or knowledge might I need to develop to reach my goals?
What relationships might I need to cultivate?
What might I do differently if I knew I couldn’t fail? What does that tell me about what I might need to do today?
Where am I holding back? What small step might I take to move forward?
Notes:
If you want to use the above technique to focus on driving results at work or in your business, adapt the questions above to align with your monthly, quarterly, and annual goals.
For those who would rather focus on work than on yourself, remember, you’re just one person in one body. If you only take stock of your workload or job, you risk losing sight of the bigger picture in your career and other areas of your life.
Remember, you are your greatest work.
Put in the time to cultivate your ideas, refine your vision, and strategize for the future—your future.
Everything you’ve done so far adds up to more than you know, but it requires growth and change to unlock that potential.
Embrace the process, and trust me, the investment you make in working on yourself is what will ultimately lead you to begin to live your dreams your Opus–in life and at work. You’re worth it!
Thanks for being here with me as you Live Your Opus. As always, if these words resonate with you, feel free to share them with someone else who might need this nudge today.
Until next time, be well!
