be forgiven for drawing the conclusion
that busy equalled success from these
three women alone.
However, after many discussions my
colleagues and I have formed the
view that it doesn’t and it is all too
commonplace for busy to have the
connotation of being in demand,
wanted or highly sought after. Telling
someone how busy you are does
not convey the message that people
should want to work with you (or be
⸀⸀⸀圀䠀䔀一 匀䠀䔀 刀䔀䄀䰀䤀匀䔀䐀Ⰰ
吀伀 䠀䔀刀 䠀伀刀刀伀刀Ⰰ 吀䠀䄀吀 匀䠀䔀
圀䄀匀 䴀䤀匀匀䤀一䜀 伀唀吀 伀一
匀伀䴀䔀吀䠀䤀一䜀℀℀℀
My experience is a personal and not a
professional one, but the impact was
realised. A few months ago a close
girlfriend wanted to know how I was.
Not what I had been doing, how I was.
GLOSS JULY 2015
Recently, I was messaging her as I
knew she was moving house soon, had
a baby under age one and a fly-in-flyout boyfriend. I asked her if she needed
NOT BEING BUSY, AND
ACTUALLY HAVING
SOME DOWNTIME IS OK.
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN
LAZINESS AND
RECOVERY.
friends with you) because you are that
busy or so in demand. After a recent
experience I am more convinced that
sensationalising busy (even if the events
are a true reflection of your day), has
the opposite effect.
46
I was actually going really great, but I
didn’t tell her that, instead I gave her
a debrief such as you would see Olivia
Pope give Abbey in Scandal. She heard
about the numerous events I had on
that week, a women lawyers event that I
was organising and upcoming interstate
trips.
help packing, cleaning and moving.
Her response - “I know you’re busy ...
I’m not going to load you up with my
crap”. It hurt that one of my closest
friends thought she could not rely on
me for a few hours on a weekend. We
spoke some more about it and I realised
I had brought this on myself. I had
sensationalised busy one too many
times and it had the opposite effect of
what I wanted – my friend thought she
could not rely on me.