Below is a chapter excerpt, written by Peak Productivity’s founder, Elisabeth Galperin, which is part of the book titled Culture Impact.  The book will be released on June 9, 2023. The book is a collaborative project involving 12 authors who offer unique perspectives on the topic of workplace culture.  Follow this LINK to find more information about the book and authors.

Take a moment to think about how many times you have likely used the word BUSY today, this week, this month. What about the number of times you’ve heard family, friends, and colleagues talking about being busy, or some version of it, when describing just about every aspect of their life? We talk about being busy ALL. THE. TIME.

Work is busy.

The family is busy.

The weekend is busy.

The grocery store is busy.

The restaurant is busy.

Life is always busy.

You get the point.

Let’s face it: we are living in a culture of busy. Even when things aren’t actually hectic, we sometimes create excess activity (“the busy”) because it is so familiar and has become almost comfortable. We turn on the television, start reading celebrity or political news on our phone, turn on the washing machine, and dryer, and the dishwasher, at the same time, then walk outside to mow the lawn. Just another typical Sunday in America; you know, the designated day of rest.

Do any of us actually desire to be busy? Do we wake up each morning and think to ourselves, “I sure hope I am outrageously busy today!” I’ll be the first to admit, I have normalized being in constant motion – always doing, never just being. I set a goal last year to adopt the habit of scheduling a time once a week to literally DO NOTHING. That was one of the hardest challenges and most difficult goals I’ve set for myself in my adult years!

Busy is the New Good

Busy is the new good. We often use the word without real intention, without any real meaning behind it. When someone tells us they are “good,” do we know anything specific regarding how they are actually doing or feeling? The response, “I’m good” is simply a placeholder in many cases. It has become a way to skirt the truth and to quickly move past the real details of life.

Busy, however, unknowingly sends an unwanted, and often negative, message to others and to ourselves. It has become ingrained in our language. The behaviors this word represents have become the accepted – and often expected – norm in our twenty-first century lives.

The problem with being busy is that it is typically not healthy. Constant busyness is not sustainable. Most important of all, being busy is NOT the same thing as being productive. Is it busyness or is it productivity that our American/workplace/family culture is striving for? ‘Busy’ as a social status is a problem at many levels, not just for people at a personal level,  but for professionals, leaders, and the companies and organizations where we work.

Busyness is indeed a health and wellness issue at the personal level. Yet it is also the health of an entire company that can become compromised. There is a direct correlation between overworked and overwhelmed employees and a measurable decline in company productivity. A workplace culture of busyness hurts the bottomline.

Employees become disengaged, absenteeism increases, and an employee’s level of loyalty and commitment to the organization can quickly decline. Research has also proven that companies which overly emphasize, measure, and/or incentivize how much a person works actually results in a drop in productivity levels and efficiency.  Employees may be putting in the hours and minutes, according to the clock, but they are likely also producing with less focus, effort, efficiency, and/or effectiveness.

A Culture of Contribution

From quiet quitting (when employees do the bare minimum in their jobs), to quiet constraint (when employees hold on to valuable knowledge at work, rather than sharing it with their colleagues), to whatever the next trend may be, company culture will always be a critical component of every organization that strives to succeed and grow. An organization’s culture will need to remain the highest priority for leaders of companies, large and small. A culture left to develop on its own is a culture that will, at best, result in sub-par behaviors, actions, attitudes, and values; at worst, it will be the primary downfall of a company.

The evidence is abundant: a culture of busy is clearly not what today’s companies and organizations will benefit from, nor is it what they can afford to encourage or allow. A culture focused on productivity is much more likely to create a desirable workplace environment. Yet, I would propose that the truly ideal workplace culture – a place where professionals dream of working and where individuals feel extreme gratitude to be a member of the team – is a culture of contribution.

Be sure to purchase a copy of Culture Impact  on Amazon beginning June 9th, 2023, to explore Elisabeth’s definition of a culture of contribution and to learn several strategies you can use to improve the workplace culture in your organization! You can also reach out to Elisabeth to explore working collaboratively to create the workplace culture you desire.