Five Minute Friday: Busy or Effective? The Question That Can Change Everything

Foreign. Business can be a lonely game. But it doesn't have to be. Welcome to Boutique Chat, where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek. We'll hear from product based businesses of all types, retailers, e commerce and wholesale brands, along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat. Hey guys, welcome back to 5 Minute Friday. I've got a hard hitting question for you. Are you busy or are you effective? Huge difference, right? How many of us have a friend? I know we all have one. And every time you have a conversation with that friend, you're like, yay, Susie, how's it going? She's like, I'm good. I'm busy, right? Everybody wants to be busy. Everyone wears busy like a badge of honor. I think it's just a bunch of bs, right? Everybody's busy. Before I had kids, I thought I was busy. And now I want to slap my old self because I was like, whoa, this is totally different. Now I got three kids and they're all in sports and I'm driving them 35 different places at once. This is a different kind of busy. Everybody is busy in their own state of being busy. So as a business owner, I want to challenge you to step out of being busy. I don't want you to be busy. Busy is bs. I want you to be effective. I want you to be effective. So first you've got to define what does it mean to be effective? What does that look like in your life? For me, being effective is not a dollar amount. It's not a sales goal. It's not really a number. Being effective for me is, is did I get to work today and move the needle on the most important biggest rocks in the company? Did I move the needle on the biggest projects that I'm working on? Whether it was, you know, something I needed to support the team with, or maybe it was something I really need to sit down and think out and make a solid plan about. Maybe it was a bunch of, you know, batch content I needed to create. Did I really move the needle with something that was a big rock or an income generating activity that was important to the business, that's being effective. But did I clean out my email inbox and answer a thousand customer service questions? That's being busy, right? So was I effective at work? Today is a big question for me. Did I really move the needle? And one way I look at that is, at the end of the day, I make myself a to done list. Not a to do, not a to do tomorrow, but what did I actually accomplish today? And if I journal that for like a week or two at a time and every day I make a to done list and it's pretty evident whether that day was busy or effective. So I want to be effective in that way. I want to do big things that move the needle where I don't look back and go, what did I actually do yesterday? Or what did I actually do a week ago? Now the other definition for effective for me is did I show up as the wife and the mother that I needed to be today? Did I tuck my kids in tonight and snuggle them and tell them I love them even if they're in high school? Or did I say, I'm so frickin tired I'm gonna sit on this couch and have a glass of wine you later? Because I've done both and I don't like myself when I do both. I want to be the one who actually shows them that they're so important to me that I have to be in their room and in their space, right? So to me, that's my definition. Did I show up as the wife and spouse I needed to be? Did I show up at work? And now I got to be honest, since this whole knee surgery stuff I've gone through, did I take care of myself today? That often is the first thing I'll cut out. Did I do my PT exercises? Is question number one. But then how did I fill myself up with water today? How did I strength train today? Did I get my steps in today? I've learned that, boy, it's awfully easy to take your health and your body and your mobility for granted until it's not there. And I tell you, once you get to that point, you will do anything to get it back. Please don't be me. Please don't learn that lesson the hard way. You have time for yourself, but you have to make it a priority. So you can be busy doing all kinds of things that really are, do they matter? Or you could be effective and take care of yourself so that you are healthy enough long term to continue to take care of the business and people that you love. But if you're not healthy and your cup is empty, you can't fill anybody else's. So take a hard look at your calendar. Show me your calendar and you'll show me your priorities. You can be busy or you can be effective. And it's a choice in how you're going to show up every single day. So I'm here for you. I've got all kinds of tools in the planner and inside the Hub that hopefully can help you, but I think just bringing it top to mind and asking yourself that question is probably going to change how you show up on a daily basis. So good luck to you. Let me know. Report back how it goes over on AJ Alderson or at the Boutique Hub on Instagram. Let's hear those stories if you are busy or effective and how you're shifting the tide. All right, that's it for this week's 5 Minute Friday. Thanks guys for being here and I will see you back here next week. That's it for five Minute Friday, you guys. I hope you found some quick, actionable steps you can put into play in your business right away. As always, if you're not yet a member of the Boutique Hub, I would love to personally invite you to join us. It's where all of the daily conversations happen. The up to to date what is working now in the industry conversations, the latest trainings, trend reports, discounts, resources and of course access to thousands of wholesale brands that you also know and love. So please take a minute, follow the link in the show notes and we would love to invite you to join us inside of the Boutique Hub.