Are You Too Busy?

Here's a handy quiz for determining whether you are in fact too busy.

Gary J. Ross

Gary J. Ross

Everyone complains they are too busy. The only time I can recall people complaining that they were not busy was in Biglaw in 2008, when there was little work to go around and everyone was afraid (with ample justification) they were about to get laid off.

It’s hard to know if someone — even you yourself — is truly too busy.  After all, people with 9-to-5s can feel like they are too busy.  One of my entrepreneur clients says he doesn’t like to work more than five hours a day, and when he bumps up against five hours, he will immediately stop working.  So when would he be too busy?  When one day he has to work five hours and ten minutes?

Lawyers always feel like they are the busiest people on earth, but there are many other professions in which people work long, hard hours.  Doctors certainly work a lot of hours, even after residency.  Truck drivers work long hours, and power plant workers do as well.  It’s not just lawyers, and there are, of course, some lawyers — particularly in government or in-house — who in the grand scheme of things are not busy.

So how do you know if you are really too busy?  Objectively, too busy?  Well, lucky for you, you’ve come to the right place.

Here is a handy quiz for determining whether you are in fact too busy.

  1. Do you spend most of each day apologizing to clients for being late on various deliverables?  Maybe it’s gotten to where when you promise your longtime clients something by a certain date, they respond, “yeah, right” or “I won’t hold my breath.”
  2. Do you refresh Above the Law less than five times a day?  Note the recommended number of times to refresh Above the Law each day is eleven.  Are you unable to refresh ATL even half that?  
  3. Are you continually buying new underwear (and socks), because you don’t have time to do laundry?
  4. Are you continually rewearing underwear (and socks), because you don’t have time to do laundry or buy new clothes?  (Also answer this one “Yes” if you regularly go without underwear or socks.)
  5. Are you unaware there was a vice-presidential debate earlier this week?
  6. Do you keep an aerobed in your office?  
  7. Do you use the aerobed in your office more than twice a week?
  8. Has it been more than three months since you saw any of your friends?  Meaning in person, not on Facebook.  Speaking of which,
  9. Are you too busy for Facebook?
  10. Do you occasionally bring a date back to your office, forgetting that you also have an apartment/house that might be a more appropriate location for whatever you are hoping is about to happen?
  11. When someone asks you if you can catch up over drinks or coffee, do you immediately calculate how much in billables you’re going to lose if you agree?  (Of course, this could just be you being greedy.  Maybe I’ll write a column on “Are You Too Greedy?”)
  12. Do you have trouble remembering the last time you spoke with someone who wasn’t a client or a colleague?  (Fortunately, I don’t, for this morning I said to someone, “grande pike.”)
  13. Has it been at least two years since you’ve been in a grocery store?  I once worked with a partner who told me she hadn’t been in a grocery store in ten years.  Not even for milk or beer!
  14. Are you uncertain if you are still married?  You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were once married, but there is no spouse at home.  And half the closet is empty, and all of the drawers.  And what about your dog?  Where is Buddy?

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Tally up how many questions you answered “Yes” to, and then see the results below.

1-4:  Not busy.  No wonder you have time to take this quiz.  Do you even have a job?

5-8:  Moderately busy.  Must be nice.  Maybe you have a lot of responsibilities but you’re just really good at delegating.  

8-12:  Absolutely busy.  Maybe you’re not so good at delegating?  Oh well, being busy usually makes the day go by faster.  Just make sure you are prioritizing the things that are important, like spending ample time each day reading Above the Law.

13-14:  Too busy.  Congratulations!  You are too busy.  Start thinking judiciously about whether everything that is packed into your current life situation is absolutely necessary.  Do you really need that part-time job as a truck driver?  Or a columnist?

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Coming soon: What To Do If You Are Too Busy.


Gary J. Ross opened his own practice, Jackson Ross PLLC, in 2013 after several years in Biglaw and the federal government. Gary handles corporate and securities matters for startups, large and small businesses, private equity funds, and investors in each, and also has a number of non-profit clients. You can reach Gary by email at Gary.Ross@JacksonRossLaw.com.