"Sorry, I'm just too busy" - A phrase that has become vastly overused and almost considered a triumph to be able to use it. The trouble is the phrase has become diluted, representing our inability to successfully keep to a schedule and complete the work at hand.

The idea of being busy stems from the feeling of hard work and self worth - if we are working well into the evening we must be doing something to gear ourselves and the company forward, right?

However take a step back and think about the work that was completed during the day inclusive of pointless tasks (these are primarily the main culprit for lost time in the work day) and consider the work that was pushed back further into the day to be completed. A lot of the times the important tasks will be getting done in the evening whilst the rest of the day is spent just pushing paper around.

When we spend the day pushing paper around and throwing around the term "I'm busy" I like to consider this as Static Activity.

Static activity represents work that is being completed however it in no way, shape or form is pushing the company or individual forward. Even though there is a sense of progression the reality of it is the work you completed today didn't shift you at all in the direction you wanted to go. Of course there may be a slight move forward and people will note that "little and often" can be the key to success however if you're a startup those moves forward need to be large strides. Little and often in the early stages of any business is the perfect way to promote sluggish growth.

Luckily getting out of this busy mindset is easy:

Lose the meetings - Meetings no longer provoke motivation or interest, instead it cuts into valuable working hours and takes people out of their grooves which then takes about 45 minutes to get back into, if there are no further distractions.

9 to 5 - Some have got used to the long hours and loathe the prospects of working the mortal persons hours. Try it for a week and see how your productivity increases. If you work to those hours and you arrange for activities after work then you'll have no choice but to concentrate and power on through the day.

Rewards - This is one for managers too. If someone has worked solidly and managed to cross off everything on the to-do list, give that person the rest of the day off or even give them a whole day off. The last thing you want to do is have an employee who has worked solidly to then be rewarded with either sitting around for the rest of the day or loaded up with even more work.

These 3 ideas are all there to help promote solid and advancing activity. We've all at one point or another fallen into the trap of working late and rising early, it;s horrible for health but it's also making us disillusioned with our effectiveness.