Are you a busy in the right way?

Take control by reducing WILFING and other timesappers

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction" Isaac Newton

And, of course every inaction has, well, an equal and opposite non-reaction. If we don't  work on the right marketing priorities, if we lack focus on the right marketing activities, then you won't get the result. After all, the world doesn't sit still because you're busy on something of (questionable) priority.

Busy - what does that mean?

It was only recently that the word 'busy' made me think how accurate a term it is for a lot of wasted time in marketing teams. A lot of marketers, me included, have and do spend time being busy - that's busy avoiding the priorities, avoiding doing the hard work. A few friends I have from Liverpool use the term "busy" as a negative term, meaning that someone just generally sticking their nose in or keeping themselves occupied and active - seen to be "doing something". It struck me an interesting parallel for 'busy marketers'. I know because I've been one.

Swamped by choice

I say it a lot, "I'm too busy for [that really important thing that I'm secretly avoiding]". I hear it every single day in others too. As a client-side marketer, you're extremely likely to have too much to do, all of the time. A lot is, and should be, asked of you.

Marketing is such a central requirement for product design, promotion and costumer relationship building. There are more options in marketing than ever before, this is the HUGE opportunity that we have to imagine new ways, to inspire and create and avoid just being busy on the same safe stuff. So what is that fuels business and zaps the energy out of effective marketing?

• Excessive meetings and committees - a lack of leadership and context for action
• HiPPOs - the highest paid persons opinion creates busy teams, with little commercial output
• Shiny new object syndrome - "let's build an app in Facebook"
• Re-invent the wheel - you really, most likely, don't need that "re-brand"
• Playing in data - what is key to know and action, over what's nice to review - we've all been guilty of WILFING - "what was I looking for"?
• Product obsession - assuming the customer really is sat waiting for your new thing. Forgetting the consumer altogether
• Email inboxes - enough said

Of course many of these potentially timewasting activities are unavoidable and necessary to some degree. But through recognising the problem and looking to reduce input where necessary you can win back time for other priorities which actually can make a positive difference to the company.

Focus and priorities

If this strikes a chord with you at all, the solution is simple. In my previous post advising how to focus by knowing your priorities. I wrote about the consequences of a lack of a focussed thinking and planning, that lead to drained confidence to make a decisions and misaligned teams. I think overt 'busyness' is a symptom on that theme. By all means just keep your head down and be busy, another physicist had some advice on that though…

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" Albert Einstein