Being busy is easy.
So easy that you can live in a perpetual state of busyness without actually doing a whole lot. To stay feeling busy, just make sure that you’re always focussed on at least two tasks.
Productivity requires the opposite. It doesn’t feel as good to tell people how little you’ve been focussing on, but focussing purely on a few important things, one at a time, will get you much further.
When people ask how I’ve been, I’m often guilty of responding with, “Busy, but good.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Is what people usually say. But it’s not good. Being ‘busy’ is a waste of the two most valuable assets we have; our time and our attention.
Protect them from the distractions which would prey on your productivity and feed your sense of busy at all costs.