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Busywork Quotes

    “Despair comes because energy goes on leaking, and people have forgotten how to contain it. In a thousand and one thoughts, worries, desires, imagination, dreams, memories, energy is leaking. And energy is leaking in unnecessary things that can be easily avoided. When there is no need to talk, people go on talking. When there is no need to do anything, they cannot sit silently; they have to ‘do.’ People are obsessed with doing, as if doing is a sort of intoxicant; it keeps them drunk. they remain occupied so that they don’t have time to think about the real problems of life. They keep themselves busy so that they don’t bump into themselves. They are afraid—afraid of the abyss that is yawning within. This is how energy goes on leaking, and this is why you never have too much of it. One has to learn how to drop the unnecessary. And ninety percent of ordinary life is unnecessary; it can easily be dropped.”

    Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 211)

    Automate Your Busywork [Book]

      By: Aytekin Tank

      Book Overview: Do Less, Achieve More, and Save Your Brain for the Big Stuff. In this book, entrepreneur, founder, and CEO of Jotform—Aytekin Tank delivers a can’t-miss blueprint to help you make the most of your most precious asset: time. You’ll explore what’s possible when you offload repetitive tasks, why automation has democratized innovation, and how you can use cheap―or even completely free―no-code automation tools to transform your ability to focus on what truly matters in your business and life.

      Post(s) Inspired by this Book:

      15 Aytekin Tank Quotes from Automate Your Busywork To Help You Reclaim Your Time

      17 Quotes ➜
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        “You can’t necessarily automate your happiness. But you can use automation to give you more time to follow your bliss—whatever that looks like for you.”

        Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 168)


          “There’s a poetic beauty in imagining that all the whispered conversations, cups of coffee, and daily minutiae add up to create a rich and textured story. Then there’s the reality of modern life: emails, chat notifications, system backups, and taxes. Our digital world has empowered us to accomplish so much, yet, many of us are proportionately beholden to electronic tools and tedious processes. My goal [is] to loosen their grip, to help you find more space and freedom.”

          Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 137)

            “Repetition is a neon sign that points to busywork. Manually composing and sending a variation of the same email every quarter is not the best use of your skills. Of course, this doesn’t apply to recurring work that requires creativity or strategy, like writing a monthly newsletter for your top clients.”

            Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 42)

              “No one will eliminate busywork for you. It’s your responsibility to create space in your work(day), and automation can make it happen.”

              Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 29)

                “It will feel great to check off each item [of your to-do list], they say. When you reach the end, you’ll be free, they say. But the truth is there is no end.”

                Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 17)

                  “Before I could even begin to eliminate my busywork, I had to set boundaries—which was hard. I turned off notifications when I left work and kept them off at home. I had to learn how to consciously switch my mind away from work. But over time it got easier. I didn’t cringe every time I said ‘no’ or ‘tomorrow, not today.’ These might not sound like big steps, but when you’re in reaction mode, doing anything with intention can feel revolutionary. I also realized that boundaries prioritize your attention. Instead of responding to an email the moment it hit my inbox, I chose to continue the critical work I was currently engaged in.”

                  Aytekin Tank, Automate Your Busywork (Page 16)

                    “Being busy communicates importance; it often makes you seem a little untouchable to others. It also overwhelms the body so that it can only focus on the tasks at hand. Being busy is the ultimate way to distract ourselves from what’s really wrong.”

                    Brianna Wiest, The Mountain Is You (Page 54)

                      “The problem isn’t that you’re too busy. You are too busy, but that’s not the problem. If you view being busy as the problem, there is no solution. You will always be too busy, and that will never change. As Andy Grove once noted: ‘A manager’s work is never done. There is always more to be done, more that should be done, always more than can be done.’ The problem is that you’re acting like a firefighter instead of a fire marshal.”

                      Ed Batista

                        “What are the chances that the busiest person you know is actually the most productive? We tend to associate busyness with goodness and believe that spending many hours at work should be rewarded. Instead, evaluate what you are doing, why you are doing it, and where accomplishing it will take you. If you don’t have a good answer, then stop.”

                        Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 164)

                        Stephen Covey Quote on Productivity and How Momentum Can Help You Get More Done

                          “If you want to get something done, give it to someone busy.”

                          Stephen Covey

                          Beyond the Quote (248/365)

                          But, why wouldn’t you give it to someone who isn’t busy? Because the Laws of Physics as they apply to motion, apply to people-in-motion, too. It’s easier to keep a body in motion than it is to get a body into motion that is at rest. The same is true for us. People who are in motion not only get more done, but they have an easier time getting more done than some might have in trying to do less. Why? Because a body at rest has a harder time getting started.

                          Read More »Stephen Covey Quote on Productivity and How Momentum Can Help You Get More Done

                          Penor Rinpoche Quote on Dealing With Life Now Rather Than Waiting (and Worrying) About It Later

                            “Life is more difficult if you worry.  It’s better to deal with things as they come up.”

                            Penor Rinpoche, via Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 101)

                            Beyond the Quote (134/365)

                            I have noticed in myself over the past few days an increased tendency to use my phone. This tendency, I suppose, could be for many reasons. It could be because of the addictive nature of phones, the increased desire for connection during a time of isolation, it could be a coping strategy to deal with the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, a lackadaisical response to the slower lifestyle (in my case at least), or a combination of all of the above. While it is important to be a little more lenient on yourself during a time of global crisis, what I have also noticed, from careful introspection, is that I have felt my anxiety levels go up in proportion to the increased phone use.

                            Read More »Penor Rinpoche Quote on Dealing With Life Now Rather Than Waiting (and Worrying) About It Later

                              “I think I understand now that the restlessness we feel as we make our plans and chase our ambitions is not the effect of their importance to our happiness and our eagerness to attain them. We are restless because deep in our hearts we know now that our happiness is found elsewhere, and our work, no matter how valuable it is to us or to others, cannot take its place. But we hurry on anyway, and attend to our business because we need to matter, and we don’t always realize we already do.”

                              Marco Rubio, via Stillness is the Key (Page 123)

                                “Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”

                                Chinese proverb

                                  “Simple truth:  fast and busy are a choice.  We choose to go fast and be busy because we think it’ll get us what we want.  All too often, it doesn’t.  Fast and busy makes life brittle.  It makes us feel like every inch of space in life is locked in and there’s no room to move.  Instead of unlocking productivity and potential, it throttles both.  It deludes us into feeling like we’re getting more done faster, but in reality, we could get the same done in the same or less time with more grace by dialing it back, not forward.  In the end, we’re left feeling dissatisfied and helpless to extract ourselves from the process.  Except we’re not.  It’s all an illusion.” ~ Jonathan Fields, How To Live A Good Life