Are you really that busy?

Have you ever noticed how much time some people take to tell you how little time they have because they are so busy? (Go ahead and re-read that sentence -- it does make sense)

I used to have a client who would take an hour and a half of my time telling me how busy they were. They would go into great detail about all the things that they had to do and had going on. I was younger then, I never had the courage to tell them if they would stop talking about it and do it, they would have more time.

What about you? Are you so busy that you really never get anything done? Do you keep the blackberry by your side, constantly checking email, constantly staying in contact with the world? But yet, never really taking the time to live life -- to focus on the really important things, like family and friends. Afraid, that if you don't get right back to someone, you will miss out.

Look I believe in good customer service, I know that there are times that you need to be there for your clients outside of "normal" work hours -- however, I am also old enough to remember life before email, blackberries, and we seemed to do okay. I am not anti-technology, that is not the point of the post. However, I do believe that you have to have some down time.

My boss says work hard - play hard and too much of either one is a bad thing. I agree. There is a time to work and there is a time for family, for yourself, for your spouse, etc. There is going to come a time for most of us when we realize the end of our travel on earth is close. If all you did was work and say things like, work is my life....that end is going to be very sad.

Work hard -- but play hard, go on vacation, take the long weekend, take the time to smell the roses and tell the important people in your life what they mean to you. If the client can't handle that, feel sorry for them and let them become another person's problem -- life is too short.

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