Do business, not busyness
Do business, not busyness
Grow faster and smarter with Salesforce.
Below are tips and resources to remove busyness and focus on what’s important.
01. Beware of to-do lists
To-do’s focus the mind on small tasks, not big outcomes and definitely not top priorities. Productive leaders are able to hit the ground running in the morning when energy levels are highest, because their priorities are already set. Intelligence from dynamic dashboards—like what Salesforce customers see—helps prioritize daily work for maximum impact and surfaces insights to forecast and plan. Swap the never-ending to-do lists for clarity on priority, so you can focus your best on the next winning moves.
02. Double your estimate
The tendency to take on too much is a result of what psychologists call planning fallacy. It is making estimations based on the best-case scenario and underestimating how long and how much things will take. Next time you make an estimate: double it then decide if you will have time to do it. Remember to take on only the things you do best AND that bring the most value. Build the right team to delegate and collaborate on critical projects, then leverage the right tools to automate everything else.
03. Know the right time
There are two types of attention: focused and unfocused. Focused attention is great for activities requiring sustained concentration: strategic planning, forecasting or analyzing numbers. Unfocused attention is better for problem solving and uncovering insights, because the wandering mind is a creative mind. As the brain gets tired with use, its ability to focus decreases. Try scheduling deep focus for the morning and wide exploration for the afternoon. Take charge of your day, not the other way around.
04. Blast, not graze
Grazers are continuously distracted as they graze email, social and news media all day. Blasters do it in intense, short bursts before shutting off to focus on their top priorities. It’s tempting to check emails regularly but there are good reasons to resist it. Productivity hacker, Tim Ferriss, puts it simply: the email inbox is “everyone else’s agenda for your time.” Grazers, on average, switch attention every 3 minutes; while it takes more than 15 minutes to refocus. Due to the switch cost of mental performance, grazers get less done and feel more tired. Avoid multitasking to get more done with less effort.
05. Make clock work
It’s normal to get a lot done on the last day before a vacation. As it turns out, increased awareness of passing time pushes us to do more, but reduces our ability to think deeply and problem-solve creatively. So, if you want to do, use a big clock; if you want to think, hide it. Regardless of work type, the best way to stay sharp and productive is to take a break every 1.5 hours. Most people can concentrate for 90 minutes before their mind begins to wander and their productivity wane. Make time work for you.
06. Think better
On days when you go from meeting to meeting to meeting with little break in between, you probably notice intellectual performance dropping by a measurable amount. This is because the brain is still processing any previously opened ‘files’ that haven’t been closed. You close a ‘file’ by taking key points and next steps out of your head and into your central workspace, like Salesforce, on the go. Develop the habit of closing files as soon as you need to switch. Enjoy access to your best thinking more frequently.
07. Make smarter choices
When we try and do everything—as an organization or as an individual—we achieve nothing important. Great strategy is about making the right trade-offs; however, the brain is really bad at making them. It asks ‘is this doable?’, which is the wrong question because doable doesn’t mean it should be done. The right question—the strategic question—is ‘what is most valuable to do?’ Being able to prioritize what truly matters is the essence of great leadership.
08. Leverage smarter tools
It’ll surprise you to find out how much of your unique business can be automated, streamlined, and enhanced with intelligent tools available to Salesforce customers. For example, Salesforce Einstein AI provides intelligence to make every part of your business smarter—from sales and service to marketing and commerce, and many other business functions. This isn’t science fiction—it’s AI and CRM coming together to free you to do what matters most: building the important human relationships that keep business flowing.
Meet Tony Crabbe
Many of these actionable tips were provided in part by Tony Crabbe—a sought-after business psychologist, consultant and speaker. His book 'Busy: How to Thrive in a World of Too Much' won Success Best Book in 2015 and has helped many overcome busyness. He focuses his time on writing and consulting large companies like Microsoft, Disney, News Corporation, HSBC, American Express and Salesforce.