Exam Info

If You're Not Busy ...

Everyone has slow days. Days when the phone stops ringing, when no one will make appointments, and when you start wondering what you've done wrong.

The reality is there's nothing wrong. These slow times happen. When they do, catch up on paperwork, make sales calls, or go to the beach.

What you should never do is tell people you're not busy. Because people wonder what's the matter if you're not busy.

It's a little like if you went into a nice restaurant at 6 p.m. on a Friday. And there's no one there. If you're like me, you start to wonder why no one is there. Has something happened? Has the chef been fired?

Probably not. You just happen to have hit the restaurant at a quiet moment, and things will likely pick up by 6:30.

I'm always "busy," in the sense that I have things I need to do. Being busy doesn't just mean having an appointment, although that's what pays the bills. So when an insurance agent calls and asks if I'm busy, my answer is, "Yep, I sure am."

Because when you tell someone you're not busy, they either think something's gone wrong, wondering if you're not as good as you were, or they wonder why they are calling you when no one else is.

The other problem is that there are people who will take advantage of your quiet spells, and make unreasonable demands, be rude, or whatever. These are the folks who will call you at the last minute, interrupt meals, or whatever. But if they think you're busy, they're less likely to do that, and will tend to respect your time.

Get in the habit of telling people you're busy. "Busy" is busy, even if what you're doing is playing ball with your children, or going out for dinner with a friend. Respect your own time, and others will, too.

posted by Jim Huffman @ 1:11 PM