Tim Maurer asks 12 thought leaders for techniques to stop the cycle of "busyness."
It’s old news that we’re busy and that we wear our busyness as a badge of honor. But a new study found that Americans, in particular, are actually buying it. Specifically, the study concluded that Americans who always say they’re “busy” are actually seen as more important. Unfortunately, it’s all a charade.
Numerous studies have shown that busyness isn’t actually good business, and here’s the big reason why: It makes us less productive. We’re all susceptible to it, but If I’m saying to myself (and I have), “Woo, I’m busy; really busy,” I’m likely being distracted from the most important, most productive work that I could be doing. I may feel like I’m doing more, but the net result is actually less. And it often feels like it.
But not everyone wears busyness as a status symbol. In response to the research and their own well-informed gut feelings, many are finding enjoyment in more productive work at a less busy pace. I wanted to know how these people recognize when they’re devolving into busyness and what they do to stop the downward spiral, so I asked 12 thought leaders who’ve inspired me two simple questions:
Here’s what they had to say:
Chris Guillebeau, Art of Non-Conformity blogger, Side Hustle School podcaster and author of Born For This, knows he’s too busy when:
I don't mind working hard and taking on lots of projects–in fact, I wouldn't have it any other way—but when I have no time to think, then I feel too busy.
He unbusys himself by:
It can be hard to dig myself out of a busyness tunnel. However, one tactic I use is to look through my upcoming calendar and cancel anything that doesn't seem essential. It's likely I'll still have a number of commitments to see through, but even a little relief can help to restore order.
Laura Vanderkam, time management guru and bestselling author of I Know How She Does It, knows she’s too busy when:
You find yourself dreading lots of tasks on your calendar or you don't have the energy for things you normally like to do. And if you have a lot of activities in your life that you feel like you'd pay good money to offload—that's probably a sign too!
She unbusys herself by:
Sometimes our calendars need a radical makeover. People had been talking about decluttering for years, but Marie Kondo changed the conversation by flipping it from getting rid of stuff you don't like to only keeping stuff that "sparks joy." This is an interesting thought for a schedule. What would it be like to only have activities in your life that "sparked joy?" It's probably unworkable in practice, but it's a goal to keep in mind as you evaluate your schedule.
Jon Acuff, career expert and author of the book Do Over, knows he’s too busy when:
My eyelid starts to twitch from the raw amounts of caffeine I'm using and coffee no longer touches the tiredness. My inbox is also a canary in the coal mine. When it's out of control, I usually am too.
He unbusys himself by:
I exercise. It's hard to multitask when you're running or swimming. I also turn my phone off. It's a distraction buffet.
Ryan Carson, CEO and Co-Founder of Treehouse and Naive Optimist blogger, knows he’s too busy when:
My day has started and I haven't taken time to write down my 5-6 high-priority to-dos.
He unbusys himself by:
Put down my phone, close my laptop and pull out my daily written to-do list and re-center myself.
Jean Chatzky, Financial Editor of NBC’s TODAY Show and co-author of the new book AgeProof, knows she’s too busy when:
My perceived level of stress is on the rise. You can feel it physically (headaches, stomachaches, backaches) but your sleep often suffers as a result and you're unable to focus as well as normal. As we write in AgeProof, you can't deep breathe away this type of stress, you have to attack it at its source.
She unbusys herself by:
I slow myself down. That doesn't exactly move things off my plate, but it does make sure that I do them correctly the first time which means I don't have to re-do them.
Ryder Carroll, digital product designer and inventor of the Bullet Journal, knows he's too busy when:
You stop appreciating what you've achieved. If you can't take a moment to enjoy the fruit of your labor, then what's the point?!
He unbusys himself by:
Marking the occasion. Be it a dinner with friends, or a better cup of coffee, celebrate your accomplishments. It's not only about patting yourself on the back, it's about having a moment of closure to catch your breath and regroup. It's a critical pause that allows you to take a step back to get perspective and reconnect with your purpose. If your heart is in it, then your mind will follow. Working intelligently is not about being busy, it's about being productive.
Carl Richards, New York Times Sketch Guy, podcaster and author of The One-Page Financial Plan, knows he’s too busy when:
It's a feeling, and the key (for me) is learning to notice it instead of drifting through life letting IT dictate how you live and interact with the people around you.
Some clues for me are feeling rushed, holding my breathe a little bit while completing tasks, impatience with people I love, faultfinding with others’ work, and a sense of self-centeredness or self-importance.
He unbusys himself by:
First test: Go hang out with a two- or three-year-old. If you find yourself rushed, you fail.
Second test: Are you responding to "How are you?" using either “So busy!” or “Busy man...but it’s better than the alternative”? Another fail.
Solutions: First, acknowledge you failed the test—you're either too busy, or acting too busy. Second, start paying attention, and finally, follow your breath.
Jonathan Fields, inspirational blogger, speaker and author of How to Live a Good Life, knows he’s too busy when:
Busyness, alone, isn't the problem. The loss of intentionality—being "reactively busy"—is. Manically crossing off to-dos without regard to who put them on your list and whether they matter to you is when things fall apart. What's the big tell? If you find yourself at the end of a breathlessly packed day, having accomplished very little that truly mattered to you, it's time for an intervention.
He unbusys himself by:
It starts with awareness. You can't choose differently until you become aware of what you're doing in the moment. Set "awareness triggers" on your mobile device to vibrate in a distinct pattern and let you know it is time to pause for a moment, consider what you're working on and whether you're investing your energy in something with intention and purpose, or simply defaulting to the compounding agendas of others.
Michael Kitces, educator to the most educated financial planners and the prolific publisher of the Nerd’s Eye View blog, is often asked how he does it all. He knows he’s too busy when:
You find you don’t have the time to spend with friends. Or with your spouse and children. Or when you don’t have time to take a vacation. Or when you just feel exhausted from running too hard for too long.
He unbusys himself by:
Saying “no” more often. Greg McKeown’s Essentialism makes this point incredibly well. As I wrote on the blog, most of us get stuck thinking that we have to accept every opportunity that comes our way, and over-busy ourselves. It’s entirely a mental challenge we inflict upon ourselves. Which I say as someone who’s heavily self-inflicted this many times over the years.
Manisha Thakor, my colleague and Director of Wealth Strategies for Women at The BAM Alliance, author and podcaster, knows she’s too busy when:
An additional piece of interesting work lands on my plate and instead of being excited for the opportunity I feel my whole body tensing up.
She unbusys herself by:
I either do a 20-minute, high-intensity cardio workout (alternating 60 seconds of all-out effort with 60 seconds of recovery) when I can or I will take 20 very looong, slow deep breaths. Both have the physiological effect of "rebooting" me.
Michael Hyatt, one of the country's most sought after top leadership gurus and the co-author of Living Forward, knows he's too busy when:
You look at your calendar and feel dread.
He unbusys himself by:
First, triage your calendar. Then, learn to say No with grace. If you can't start saying No, you will end up right where you are now.
Michael Evans, long-time commodities trader and most recently the founder of wealth management firm Cogent Advisor, knows he’s too busy when:
No matter what entrepreneurs like me are doing, we can easily be distracted by something else, leading us to not be fully present no matter where we are or who they’re with. When an opportunity does come along, when something big and exciting could be launched or decided, we’re not conscious enough of the opportunity to take advantage.
He unbusys himself by:
Avoiding the “too-busy” trap. I take scheduled free days where I do no work-related thinking or activities for 24 hours to completely detach myself from my business. No emails, no reading and no talking to others about work. While counterintuitive, it’s so rejuvenating to return energized, creative and present.
The most convincing proof that these thought leaders are doing what they wrote? All of these apparently busy people had time to answer my two questions within several hours of my asking them.
How might your life and work look different if you followed the footsteps of these wise men and women who’ve found joy in rejecting busyness as a badge of honor?
This commentary originally appeared March 11 on Forbes.com
By clicking on any of the links above, you acknowledge that they are solely for your convenience, and do not necessarily imply any affiliations, sponsorships, endorsements or representations whatsoever by us regarding third-party Web sites. We are not responsible for the content, availability or privacy policies of these sites, and shall not be responsible or liable for any information, opinions, advice, products or services available on or through them.
The opinions expressed by featured authors are their own and may not accurately reflect those of the BAM ALLIANCE. This article is for general information only and is not intended to serve as specific financial, accounting or tax advice.
© 2017, The BAM ALLIANCE
Judi Pflaumer on the 5 steps for retirement plan sponsors to ensure their fiduciary responsibility.
Being the fiduciary of a retirement plan for your employees is a huge responsibility. A desire to take care of loyal employees in retirement and the need to attract good candidates in the future are some of the underlying reasons to assume such an obligation.
Unsurprisingly, education is important for both the fiduciary retirement plan sponsor and the plan’s participants. Employers need to understand the duties that come with their fiduciary commitment, and research has shown that employee outcomes can benefit greatly from retirement planning and/or investment training resources. In fact, workers who listed their employers as their first or second source of retirement education have more money saved for retirement than those who listed their parents or family members as their top source of information, according to a new survey by Ramsey Solutions. Employees with access to financial and retirement education have less stress, more savings and more confidence. (For related reading from this author, see: Enticing Retirement Plan Participants to Save.)
As fiduciary retirement plan sponsors, employers are held to ERISA’s “Prudent Man” rule, which outlines a standard of care. Nevin Adams writes in an article for the National Association of Plan Advisors that “when fiduciaries act for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits, they must act at the level of a hypothetical knowledgeable person and must reach informed and reasoned decisions consistent with that standard.”
Steps Fiduciary Benefit Providers Should Take
So what does that all mean to the employer who just wants to provide the benefit? How do you know if you are protecting your employees and yourself at the same time? Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Understanding the processes needed to be a successful fiduciary is vital to safeguarding both yourself and your employees. But most employers simply do not have enough time in their day to stay on top of all the regulations while trying to run a profitable business. Engaging fiduciary advisors to be a part of your team is a strong investment in the success of your retirement plan.
This commentary originally appeared March 15 on Investopedia.com
By clicking on any of the links above, you acknowledge that they are solely for your convenience, and do not necessarily imply any affiliations, sponsorships, endorsements or representations whatsoever by us regarding third-party Web sites. We are not responsible for the content, availability or privacy policies of these sites, and shall not be responsible or liable for any information, opinions, advice, products or services available on or through them.
The opinions expressed by featured authors are their own and may not accurately reflect those of the BAM ALLIANCE. This article is for general information only and is not intended to serve as specific financial, accounting or tax advice.
© 2017, The BAM ALLIANCE
Larry Swedroe on research linking thrill-seeking and investment strategy.
Sensation-seeking is a personality trait that can be described as the seeking of varied, novel, complex and intense sensations and experiences, and the willingness to take physical, social, legal and financial risks for the sake of such experiences. Does sensation-seeking affect the behavior of financial market participants, such as professional fund managers?
That’s exactly the question that Stephen Brown, Yan Lu, Sugata Ray and Melvyn Teo, the authors of the December 2016 paper “Sensation Seeking, Sports Cars, and Hedge Funds,” attempt to answer.
The field of behavioral finance has provided us with some important insights on the subject. For example, the research has found that individuals prefer stocks with low nominal prices, high volatility (and high beta) and high positive skewness (in which returns to the right of, or more than, the mean are fewer, but further from it, then returns to the left of, or less than, the mean, like a lottery ticket). In other words, they have a preference for gambling. Research has also found that investors with gambling preferences trade actively.
What A 'Sensational' Car Suggests
Brown, Lu, Ray and Teo contribute to the literature by examining professional hedge fund investors. Their study used data on hedge fund managers’ automobile ownership to gauge their proclivity for sensation-seeking and then analyzed the impact on behavior and performance. The authors examined the characteristics of vehicles the managers purchased, such as body style, maximum horsepower, maximum torque, passenger volume and safety ratings.
Their working hypothesis was that “the purchase of a powerful sports car, more often than not, conveys the intent to drive in a spirited fashion and therefore signals an inclination for sensation seeking. Conversely … the acquisition of a practical but unexciting minivan reflects an aversion to sensation seeking.”
The study covered the period 994 through 2012 and nearly 50,000 hedge funds. To quote the authors, “the empirical results are striking.” Specifically:
Sensation-Seeking Signals Underperformance
Unfortunately, the results also showed that, despite taking more investment risk, fund managers who purchase performance cars do not generate greater returns than fund managers who eschew those cars.
The authors write: “Buyers of cars with pro-sensation attributes deliver lower Sharpe ratios than do buyers of cars with anti-sensation attributes. For example, a one standard deviation increase in vehicle maximum horsepower is associated with a decrease in fund annualized Sharpe ratio of 0.18. This represents a 21.43% reduction relative to the Sharpe ratio of the average fund in our sample. In contrast, a one standard deviation increase in vehicle passenger volume is associated with a 0.18 increase in fund annualized Sharpe ratio.”
Brown, Lu, Ray and Teo also found that “the sensation seeking story further predicts that the incremental risk taking by sensation seekers extends beyond financial markets.” They found “that managers who acquire cars with pro-sensation attributes exhibit heightened operational risk while managers who acquire cars with anti-sensation attributes exhibit lower operational risk.
Operational Risk
Specifically, controlling for a variety of factors that may affect fund behavior, performance car drivers are more likely to terminate their funds and report regulatory, civil, and criminal violations on their Form ADVs. Conversely, drivers of practical but unexciting cars are less likely to shut down their funds and report violations on their Form ADVs.” Clearly, “innate personality traits such as sensation seeking can engender operational risk.”
The authors concluded: “Empirical results broadly validate the advice given by hedge fund allocators to avoid managers who purchase fancy sports cars.”
The study has implications well beyond a decision on what kind of due diligence you should pursue when choosing a hedge fund manager. It begs the question: What type of car do you drive? The research suggests that it will tend to convey information on your own investment behavior, behavior that may be damaging to your investment results. Forewarned is forearmed.
By the way, I drive a staid Lexus 430.
This commentary originally appeared February 22 on ETF.com
By clicking on any of the links above, you acknowledge that they are solely for your convenience, and do not necessarily imply any affiliations, sponsorships, endorsements or representations whatsoever by us regarding third-party Web sites. We are not responsible for the content, availability or privacy policies of these sites, and shall not be responsible or liable for any information, opinions, advice, products or services available on or through them.
The opinions expressed by featured authors are their own and may not accurately reflect those of the BAM ALLIANCE. This article is for general information only and is not intended to serve as specific financial, accounting or tax advice.
© 2017, The BAM ALLIANCE