work or busy work?
When I was a small child, I loved ‘working’ with the men.
Whatever they happened to be doing, I wanted a role to fill and job to do.
The men always obliged me by giving me small things to do. Sometimes I’d bring over a hammer. Other times I’d carry the off cuts to the burn barrel. When they were busy I’d be told to ‘find all of the old pulled nails’ on the job site. I kept tires and feet safe.
There were also the rare occasions when I would hold the end of a tape in place for someone making a measurement. Those times filled me with pride. I knew I was being useful.
A lot of what I did was just busy work. I knew they didn’t need me, but was grateful to be kept busy.
In the run of your day, how much time do you spend building something?
How do you keep yourself off the hook by immersing yourself in busy work?
Do you find that you spend most of your time in busy work? When is it necessary and when is the busy work there to distract you from taking charge and making a change?
Find something that works and get a kid to hold the stupid end of the tape.
They’ll thank you for the busy work.
