Avoiding the Business of Busy-ness
by Robert Gerrish

When running your own business it's pretty inevitable that things get hectic from time to time. However, if you're so busy you're continually working long hours and your "must-do's" are growing, rather than diminishing, you may just have a problem.

Let's get one thing straight at the outset: If you subscribe to the theory that to run and build a business you absolutely have to work all hours regardless of the cost to your health and wellbeing, then this probably isn't the column for you. Show me gravestones covered in business eulogies and maybe I'll change my view. Until then I see balance as 'standard equipment' not an optional extra.

One year I attended a small business meeting where a business owner was speaking of the many successes of his manufacturing business. The presentation began with an outline of how an innovative business idea, and loads of energy, had led to something quite special. So far, so good.

As the talk continued, the pace of the speaker slowed as he told us of the endless day-to-day grind involved in the fulfilment of orders; the expansion of services; the addition of new products and so on. Without doubt, these steps had contributed to the success of the business, but at what cost?

At the end of the talk we were invited to ask questions. With my coach's hat on I asked what would he like to have changed about his first few years in business. His answer said it all for me. Without a moments hesitation and with a forlorn look on his face, he said he would like to have spent more time with his children and family. Success? - Not in my book.

Building a business takes hard work; there's no denying. But how well do you really work when you have such gross imbalance? Just remember how refreshed, energised and clear you can feel after a short holiday. Now imagine a day where that feeling is topped-up steadily rather than drained.

The rot usually starts when we fail to get the lesson about saying 'no'. If we automatically say 'yes' to requests, we're likely to end up being very busy. This is a common behaviour of the new business owner. The trick is to gauge when the behaviour is failing to be of benefit and take action to bring about change.

The challenge is to see if we are saying 'yes' because we genuinely want to or because we think we should. The latter means we are working to someone else's agenda. We can start by gently practicing saying 'no' and see how our state of 'busyness' begins to ease.

Next is the all too frequent, misguided belief that 'no-one does it as well as me'. Fine, maybe they don't, but let's look carefully at what we're saying. By personally holding onto work procedures we are guaranteeing a perpetual flow of work and responsibility; we're saying that no-one else can learn; signalling that without us, it's simply not going to happen. This is a dangerous trap to fall into and one from which it's difficult to escape.

We can start to make things a lot easier by delegating tasks to others; even part of the task. We can secure the services of an assistant who can learn from us and even