Busyness can look a lot like productivity

This is a hard one for entrepreneurs.

Because being busy feels productive.

The calendar is full.

The inbox is full.

We’re checking things off.

We’re answering people.

We’re launching.

We’re fixing.

We’re getting stuff done.

And yes, sometimes that’s exactly what business requires.

There are real deadlines.

There are things that actually need to happen by a certain time.

There are moments when something is genuinely urgent.

But not everything is that serious.

Not everything has to happen today simply because somewhere in our head we decided that it does.

That’s where I think we have to become curious.

Who decided this was urgent?

Was it the client?

Was it the deadline?

Was it the team?

Or was it me?

Sometimes the pressure we’re responding to is real. Sometimes we’re the ones creating the pressure.

What if urgency is actually a story?

This is where it gets interesting.

Because maybe the thing does need to get done.

But maybe the intensity we’re attaching to it is coming from somewhere else.

Maybe I need this project finished because I am afraid I’m falling behind.

Maybe I need the client to sign today because I’m scared another opportunity won’t come.

Maybe I need the team to move faster because uncertainty makes me uncomfortable.

Maybe I need this launch to work because I have attached too much of my identity to the outcome.

Maybe I keep adding things to my calendar because being still makes me feel like I am not doing enough.

So yes, there is the task.

But then there is also the story attached to the task.

And those are not always the same thing.

Scarcity can make everything feel urgent

This is one I’ve had to work through personally.

When we’re operating from scarcity, there can be this feeling underneath everything that says:

Get it now.

Do it now.

Don’t miss the opportunity.

Don’t let the client go.

Don’t stop.

Don’t fall behind.

Because what if there isn’t enough?

Enough money.

Enough clients.

Enough time.

Enough opportunity.

That mindset can make everything feel like it has to happen immediately.

And the problem is that when everything is urgent, we start treating everyone around us like everything is urgent too.

Now the team feels it.

The client feels it.

Our family feels it.

The thing we are creating feels it.

Your urgency can become someone else’s work environment.

Your internal state doesn’t always stay internal

This is the part I really want business owners and leaders to think about.

Maybe you’re stressed.

Maybe revenue is down.

Maybe you’re scared.

Maybe you’re holding a lot of uncertainty.

That’s human.

But what happens next?

Does that fear turn into five urgent Slack messages?

Does your anxiety become an unrealistic deadline for somebody else?

Does your need to feel in control become micromanagement?

Does your fear around money become pressure on the sales team?

Does your inability to slow down become an unspoken expectation that nobody else should slow down either?

We may not intentionally create any of those things.

But that doesn’t mean other people aren’t experiencing them.

The experience you create includes more than the final product

As creators, we spend a lot of time thinking about what the customer eventually sees.

The finished video.

The product.

The service.

The event.

The campaign.

The website.

But there was an entire experience created before the customer ever saw the final result.

What did your team experience while building it?

What did your family experience while you were consumed by it?

What did you experience?

Was everything rushed?

Was everyone stressed?

Did people have enough information to do good work?

Did people feel like they could ask questions?

Did every small problem become a crisis?

We have to remember that creation is not only about what comes out at the end.

It is also about the environment we created along the way.

Are you forcing the work or actually helping it move?

This is probably where I get challenged the most personally.

Because I like getting things done.

I like momentum.

I like knowing where things are going.

And there are times when pushing something forward is absolutely necessary.

But there are also times when I’ve had to ask myself:

Am I actually helping this move?

Or am I forcing it because I am uncomfortable with waiting?

That’s different.

Sometimes something needs another conversation.

Sometimes the idea isn’t ready.

Sometimes the person we are waiting on genuinely needs more time.

Sometimes there is information we don’t have yet.

Sometimes we ourselves need to walk away from something for a day and come back with a clearer mind.

Forcing does not always make something happen faster.

Sometimes it just makes the process more stressful.

There is a difference between disciplined action and trying to control every part of the outcome.

Allowing is not the same as doing nothing

I think this distinction matters.

When I say I’m learning how to stop forcing things, I don’t mean sitting around and hoping everything magically works itself out.

We still have responsibilities.

We still make decisions.

We still communicate.

We still do the work.

We still honor deadlines.

We still follow through on what we said we would do.

But we don’t necessarily need to squeeze every outcome into the exact timeline our fear created.

There can be movement without panic.

There can be discipline without constant urgency.

There can be ambition without believing every delay means failure.

There can be structure without trying to control every variable.

This is a hard story to undo

I know that from experience.

This is not one of those things where you hear the idea once and suddenly you’re walking around completely at peace while everything magically flows.

No.

Especially if you’ve spent years in entrepreneurship believing:

If I don’t push it, it won’t happen.

If I don’t stay on top of everything, something will fall apart.

If I don’t get this opportunity now, there might not be another one.

If I slow down, somebody else is going to pass me.

Those stories become deep.

So learning to operate differently takes practice.

Sometimes I’ll notice myself forcing something and have to catch it.

Why am I doing this?

Why does this feel so serious?

What am I afraid of?

What happens if I give this a little room?

That is part of the work.

The goal isn’t to never feel urgency again. The practice is becoming aware enough to know when urgency is useful and when it is simply an old story taking over.

What opportunities can you see when you’re not gripping so tightly?

There is another part of this that I’ve found interesting.

When we’re completely focused on forcing one outcome, we can become so locked into how we think something has to happen that we stop noticing what else is happening around us.

There might be another opportunity.

Another person.

Another idea.

Another way of solving the problem.

Maybe the thing we were trying so hard to force wasn’t actually the only path forward.

Maybe it wasn’t even the best one.

But when we’re in fear, it’s hard to see options.

We get narrow.

This has to happen.

This person has to say yes.

This launch has to work.

This opportunity has to be mine.

And what if it doesn’t?

What else might become available?

What might we learn?

What new direction could appear if we weren’t spending all of our energy trying to make one exact outcome happen?

What state are you asking your team to work inside?

I think every business owner with employees should ask this.

Not what benefits do we offer?

Not what does our culture deck say?

What does it actually feel like to work here?

Does everything feel like an emergency?

Is there always another last-minute request?

Does everybody feel like they have to respond immediately?

Does your team have enough room to think?

Can somebody tell you that your timeline isn’t realistic?

Can someone make a mistake without feeling like the entire business is falling apart?

Does your emotional state determine everybody else’s emotional state?

Because if we are creating from anxiety every day, we may unintentionally be creating an anxious workplace.

If we lead from fear every day, people may begin organizing themselves around our fear.

If we constantly communicate scarcity, people begin feeling scarcity too.

What are your customers experiencing?

The same question can be asked about the people we’re creating for.

What does a scarcity-driven offer feel like?

What does anxious marketing sound like?

What happens when we’re so desperate for the sale that the person on the other side begins feeling pressure instead of support?

What happens when we’re rushing to release a product because we need revenue and haven’t given enough attention to whether the product is actually ready?

Again, this doesn’t mean we cannot sell.

We should sell.

Businesses need revenue.

Creators deserve to be paid.

But what are we creating from?

That’s the question.

Am I offering something because I believe it creates real value?

Or am I trying to make the customer solve my fear?

Your customer should not have to carry the emotional weight of your need for the sale.

This is where slowing down becomes part of the creative process

I think sometimes we treat slowing down like the opposite of creating.

Like if I’m not producing, I’m wasting time.

But what if slowing down is actually part of producing better work?

What if it’s the space where we realize the deadline we created makes no sense?

What if it’s where we recognize that we’re making a decision from fear?

What if it gives us enough distance to realize the team doesn’t need more pressure—they need more clarity?

What if stepping away from the idea for one afternoon allows us to return with something much better?

This is one of the reasons reflective wellness practices can be useful for entrepreneurs and creators.

Breathwork isn’t going to write your business plan.

A sound bath isn’t going to finish your project.

Meditation isn’t going to close the deal.

But slowing down may give you enough room to hear what’s actually driving the way you’re approaching those things.

At The Healing Tree Collective in Tempe, Arizona, part of what we hope to create is room for people to step outside the constant doing for a moment and become more aware of what is happening underneath it.

Because sometimes what we need isn’t another productivity system.

Sometimes we need enough space to realize why we feel like everything needs to be done right now in the first place.

Heal • Create • Inspire starts before the creation

This is another place where our mission at The Healing Tree Collective makes so much sense to me.

Heal.

Turn inward.

What is happening inside me?

What story am I operating from?

Why am I so anxious about this outcome?

What am I afraid of losing?

Then Create.

Now what do I want to build from?

Can I create from intention instead of only urgency?

Can I create an experience that reflects the values I say matter to me?

Can I build a business where the process is not destroying the people involved in producing the result?

And then Inspire.

Other people experience what we created.

The team experiences it.

The customer experiences it.

Our families experience it.

Maybe other business owners see another way of operating.

That’s the ripple.

The question is not only, “What am I creating?” The question is, “What am I creating from—and what does that create for everyone around me?”

So what state are you creating from today?

Not someday.

Today.

Look at the emails you’ve sent.

The decisions you’ve made.

The conversations you’ve had with your team.

The thing you’re trying desperately to finish.

What state is underneath all of it?

Fear?

Scarcity?

Control?

Excitement?

Curiosity?

Clarity?

Purpose?

Maybe the answer isn’t perfectly clean.

Usually it isn’t.

But awareness gives us something.

It gives us an opportunity to choose what happens next instead of allowing the old story to make the choice automatically.