https://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-seven-levels-of-busy/ Rands in Repose * Archives * About * Books * Slack * Speaking * Podcast * Feed * Twitter Tech Life Work hours versus life hours The Seven Levels of Busy Level 1: NOT BUSY My schedule is wide open. I can choose infinite paths. Zero commitments. The weekend. I sleep like a baby. Life is good, but am I living my best life? Level 2: STUFF TO DO I have a few commitments wandering around my brain. They are reasonable, knowable, and not deadline-based. I can keep track of everything in my head. Level 3: SIGNIFICANT COMMITMENTS I have enough commitments that I need to keep track of them in a tool because I can no longer organically triage. My calendar is a thing I check infrequently, but I do check it to remind myself of the flavor of this particular day. Level 4: AT CAPACITY My to-do and my calendar are full. I frequently have to make "What is more important?" decisions to help me figure out where to invest my time. There is no unscheduled time, but I continue to feel on top of things. Inbox zero maintained. Level 5: CRACKS IN THE FACADE I tell myself I'm on top of all the things, but there are early signs of excessive work. This is when Inbox Zero fails. I know daily surprises could be avoided if I had... just a bit more time. I start saying "I'm sorry" a lot. Stuff isn't getting dropped, but execution becomes sloppy. Level 6: CRUSHING COMMITMENTS The incoming amount of things are beyond my ability to triage them. Change is constant. Just saying "No" to inbound things is not enough. Stuff is falling on the floor, and I'm not noticing. Work hours spill into life hours. Tired. Level 7: UNSUSTAINABLE I live minute to minute. Eating and other necessities are shoved in-between things, but eating and other necessities are frequently neglected. To-do lists do not help me here because I do not have time to maintain them. My calendar changes from hour to hour. It is clear by how I walk how busy I am. I get a lot of unintentional "He's screwed" looks. Zero work-life balance. This is not sustainable. # November 9, 2022 Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment * [ ] Name * [ ] Email * [ ] Website [ ] [Post Comment] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] D[ ] 11 Responses 1. The Seven Ranges of Busy see photos of the model - sqwera.com linked to this. On November 10, 2022 at 9:24 am * Reply 2. The Seven Levels of Busy | Later On linked to this. On November 10, 2022 at 12:24 pm * Reply 3. [7ad] Francis Wade 1 week ago Excellent analysis! My book Perfect Time-Based Productivity is based on the idea that as the demands on the time rise, we experience defects....issues...problems. They indicate that it's time to do some introspection and analysis in order to make some necessary changes. Thanks for this! Reply 4. The Morning Brew - Chris Alcock >> The Morning Brew #3583 linked to this. On November 10, 2022 at 2:45 pm * Reply 5. [9c8] Brendon Wilson 6 days ago It feels like there's a Level 8 that's missing -- perhaps "Burnout"? It's the level at which not only are things unsustainable, but you've started to not care that they're in that state. You've mentally disengaged and are now just executing things on auto-pilot without enthusiasm. Reply 6. [0fc] JohnD 4 days ago My Level 7: The only thing more important is breathing. Reply 7. The Seven Levels of Busy - TOP HACKER NEWS linked to this. On November 16, 2022 at 6:22 am * Reply 8. [e35] JenG 1 day ago I second the Level 8 - burnout. This is great list and so happy Stillman of Inc reposted on it so I would see it. Reply 9. [fec] Drew Kime 22 hours ago It says something (probably obvious) that you have 7 levels, that level 4 is "at capacity", and you have 3 more on top of that. And that you don't think it's unsustainable until level 7. Reply 10. [911] Jeremy Beckham 7 hours ago I disagree with Level 8 being Burnout. When you get to burnout, you start clearing the list because you've stopped caring. You are probably back at level 2 or level 3 and just shrug off the other responsibilities. Reply 11. [add] Andrew C 6 hours ago What do we call it when we're living in Level 6 but acting as if we're at Level 3? Reply See also... * Don't Panic * How I Slack (2022) * What We Lost * Doomscrolling at Scale * Good Meetings are Jazz NextBetter, Faster, and More The Trilogy [m4-cover] Managing Humans: Tales of leadership from the Silicon Valley. [stdw-250] Small Things, Done Well: Practice becoming a better leader. Daily. [lrg] Being Geek: A Career Handbook. Don't Skip This Thank you for scrolling to the bottom. If this is your first visit, I recommend starting by reading don't skip this. 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