Mental Wellbeing: When Did Being Busy Become The Same As Being Effective?

Ask a business owner or leader how things are and there's a fairly good chance you'll hear some version of: “Busy.”

In business, busy can become a badge of honour. But there is a difference between having a full plate and reaching the point where there are simply too many competing demands for the time, energy and headspace available.

You might recognise it.

Your working day is full of meetings, decisions and interruptions, while the work that actually needs your attention gets pushed into the edges of the day.

You're thinking about work while making dinner.

Answering “one last email” after the children have gone to bed.

You're less patient than you'd like to be — at home or with your team.

Things you would normally deal with calmly suddenly feel disproportionately irritating.

And even when you're technically not working, part of your brain still is.

For business owners and leaders, there is another complication: other people depend on us.

Our response to pressure doesn't only affect how we feel. It can affect how we communicate, the decisions we make and the experience other people have of being led by us.

Under pressure we can become more reactive. We hold onto work instead of delegating it. We avoid conversations because we don't have the capacity for another difficult thing. Or we become so focused on getting everything done that we stop noticing the impact we're having on the people around us. 

Resilience isn't simply coping with more

One of the things I'll be exploring at Doncaster Chamber's Women in Business Lunch & Learn on November 4, is the difference between healthy pressure, overwhelm and burnout. And how to notice when we’re moving from one into another to improve your perfomance.

Sometimes the most useful question is:

What am I carrying right now that doesn’t actually need to be carried by me?

It might be a decision somebody else could make. A task you could delegate. An expectation you’ve never challenged. A boundary you’ve allowed to disappear. Or a conversation you’re avoiding because dealing with it feels harder than continuing as you are.

Try this: Take two minutes and write down everything currently competing for your attention.

Then ask:

What genuinely needs me?
What could somebody else own?
What needs a conversation rather than more of my time?

Those distinctions can be surprisingly revealing.

I’m Rachael Sullivan, founder of Scaffold Coaching, and I’ll be running the mental wellbeing workshop at Doncaster Chamber’s Women in Business Lunch & Learn at Rossington Hall. We’ll look practically at resilience, managing workload, boundaries and preventing burnout — both for ourselves and for the people we lead.

If you've been feeling as though there is simply too much to hold at the moment, I think you'll find the session useful.

Book your place through Doncaster Chamber, and follow me on LinkedIn over the next few weeks. I'll be sharing more practical ideas around pressure, resilience and leading well without running yourself into the ground.

Book your place at Women in Business Lunch & Learn