Now, when anyone asks me how I am,
or how my weekend was, I answer with
an emotion and never with “busy”.
I cannot help but think our FOMO
and our desire to share with the world
what we are doing (and rightly so,
our successes), has led to a culture of
unnecessary busyness.
At a recent LBDGroup dinner we
discussed the culture of unnecessary
busyness and a potentially dangerous
work culture that is becoming familiar
among young female professionals. This
behaviour includes engaging in the
unnecessary busyness (ie making sure
every moment of our day is filled), for
a number of reasons including FOMO,
but also to fill the void of not being
alone, a situation many professional
females infer with being unsuccessful in
one aspect of our lives - relationships.
Over the years I have come to realise
that not being busy, and actually
having some downtime is ok. There
is a difference between laziness and
recovery. Success is not a direct
reflection on one’s relationship status,
but the sensationalisation of busy can
be.
Thankfully, Janine has provided her
thoughts on the issue and provided a
number of tips for professional women.
1. SELF-CARE IS NOT SELFISH.
Looking after yourself is the most
important thing in the world, and
part of this is making sure you say
‘no’; without excuses, without guilt,
and without umming and ahhhing.
A ‘yes’ mentality ultimately leads
to you exhausting yourself - which
in turn leads to let-downs, both
personal and professional.
2. ASKING FOR HELP IS NOT A SIGN
OF WEAKNESS, BUT STRENGTH
If you are genuinely so busy that
you are not in a state of FOMO, but
actually overloaded with work, ask
for help. This is actually a strength,
not a weakness, as it shows you are
willing to put your hand up and say
‘this isn’t going to work if I keep
going’, rather than producing a less
than succesful attempt through
pride.
3. ACTIVE LISTENING IS A GIFT YOU
GIVE TO OTHERS
When was the last time you
actually stopped and really listened
to what your friends, your staff,
your colleagues, were saying to
you - rather than waiting for a gap
in the conversation so that you
could jump in and have your turn?
Active listening is a skill, and it
is something we forget to do in
the rush of the now. It means we
miss out on some very important
emotional trigger points - and
also means we relinquish a gift
that we could be giving ourselves reciprocity.
GLOSS JULY 2015 47