Our society puts "busy" on a pedestal. It's a badge of honour, and it's easy to see why. When you're freelance, if you're busy it means you're making money. When you're working in a large organisation, being busy means you're trusted or important. When you're in a small organisation, being busy means you're growing. Busy is good, right?

​Busy can be fun. It can be addictive. It can lead to good things. But it's not the same as being productive. The old saying is "if you want something done, ask a busy person", but I'd add that it you want something done efficiently or with quality, then ask someone who is calm, focused and is good at saying "no".​

So let's stop being busy. And let's stop the glorification of busy, too. We need recognise what it really is - an inability to relax, an addiction to flattery or excitement, and an inability to make choices that make space for what matters.

Graham Allcott 0:06

My guest today is Olivier Roland. Olivier is a French blogger and entrepreneur and the author of the way of the intelligent rebel. The book has been a runaway hit in France. And now the new English language translation brings his ideas to a wider audience. So in this episode, we get geeky around learning how to develop your willpower, productivity and designing a lifestyle to get you beyond busy and change your relationship with the news.

This is Olivier Roland. Did I say that right? Yeah, absolutely. Cool. So welcome to be on Beyond Busy. And we're going to talk about your book The Way of the intelligent rebel. So where are you? Where are you? Where are you in the world right now? Let's start with where you're at.

Olivier Roland 1:33

So right now I'm in Paris, and I will take my flight back to Dubai, where I live tomorrow.

Graham Allcott 1:39

Okay, and I read somewhere that you you travel about six months of the year, is that right?

My guest today is Monica Aldama. Monica is the star of the hit Netflix show cheer, which I'm sure you've heard people you know, raving about. She's the multi championship winning cheerleading coach for Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. And she's now put some of her brilliant leadership mantras from the series into a really wise and interesting leadership book. So in this episode, I talked to Monica about what it's been like to suddenly find herself as the centre of attention. We talked about her book fall out, as well as family, humility, and more. And there's loads in here that I think will help you to instil a winning mentality in whatever it is that you're doing. It's coach Monica, this is Monica. With Monica Aldama, how are you doing?

Monica Aldama 1:35

I'm doing great. How are you?

My guest today is Dave Linton. Dave is a former youth worker turned entrepreneur, and is the founder of Mad log. Dave started mad log in 2015, with less than 500 quid, and the company has won hearts and wallets with its cool backpacks and luggage. Each product sold allows the company to donate a similar item to a young person in the foster care system. And in this episode, Dave explains why it's so important for kids in care to receive these bags. We talk about kindness, leadership, meeting Richard Branson, and much more. It's an inspiring one this week. This is Dave Linton. Dave Linton, welcome to Beyond Busy - how are you doing?

My guest today is Sarah Ockwell Smith. Sarah is one of the world's leading parenting experts having written 13 books and sold half a million copies. Her philosophy of gentle parenting is hugely influential in the motherhood WhatsApp groups of Great Britain and her latest book, How to be a Calm Parent has as much to tell us about how to look after ourselves as it does, how to look after our kids. In this episode, we talk about how to be calm self kindness, that peaceful pentagon and why being a busy parent isn't actually something to be proud of. This is Sarah Smith. There we go. We're rolling on with Sarah Smith. How are you?

When I've been coaching people in productivity, one of the most common aspirations I hear is "I want to be more proactive and less reactive". It's a noble ideal, but also a misunderstood one.

Of course, being proactive, and having a sense of deliberate control over what we do, is powerful. And of course, it far outweighs being stuck on the 'busy treadmill', reacting to whatsapps and slacks and emails and ideas.

The problem is that you can't just choose. Because proactive isn't free.

Reactive is free: sit back and let the world come at you. Pick the stuff that shouts loudest in front of your face. Rinse and repeat. Let the ensuing panic drive a messy version of stressed-out, sub-optimal productivity. In theory, you even have an extra hour or two in your week to be on that busy treadmill, because reactive negates the need for much planning and thinking. Just put the coffee on and strap in. What could be easier?!

Graham Allcott 0:07

My guest today is Matt Rudd. Matt is a writer and columnist and deputy editor of The Sunday Times magazine. He's also the author of several books, his latest being ‘Man Down: why men are unhappy and what we can do about it’. So in this episode, we talked about mental health, shared parental leave, and taking paternity leave more seriously, we talked about the trap of busyness and why you're better off with a bronze medal than a silver one and much more. The book is entertaining and thoughtful, just as you'll find. So let's get into it. This is Matt Rudd. So I'm with Matt. Rose, how're you doing?

Matt Rudd 1:22

I'm very well, thanks. I'm looking forward to this. I'm going to be I want to be a ninja by the end of it. You're the master and I'll be the apprentice for this conversation.

Miles Davis was a visionary - perhaps the greatest jazz musician of them all. On March 2nd 1959, Miles walked into Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City with his bandmates, and in just seven hours of recording they created Kind of Blue, regarded by many critics as the greatest jazz album of all time, and one of the most influential albums ever made.

Seven hours. That's all it took. Just like the time you have tomorrow, in between when you clock in and clock out. It's the opportunity you have every day this week. Seven hours is all it takes to create a masterpiece.

OK, it helped that before he started, he had some brilliant musical ideas and a tracklist. It helped that he had a band around him that included greats like John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, and that he'd spent years learning from some of the greats that went before him. And it certainly helped that he was in one of the best environments for recording in the world.

Graham Allcott 0:07

My guest today is Debbie Millman. Debbie was described by Fast Company as one of the most creative people working in business, and she's the founder of the hugely influential Design Matters podcast. From 1995 to 2016, Debbie worked in leadership roles for Sterling Brands, leading influential projects for the likes of Burger King, Star Wars 7up and Campbell Soup. A new book, Why design matters, taps into the brains of Tim Ferriss, Brene Brown, Esther Perel, and Malcolm Gladwell, amongst many others, and explores what it means to be creative and innovative, in work, and in life. In this episode, we talk about her pioneering work, who owns your logos, how to deal with internet pylons, and much more. This is Debbie Millman.

So I'm with Debbie Millman. How are you?

Debbie Millman 1:31

Hey, Graham, I'm good. It's really nice to be here with you.

Graham Allcott 1:35

It was just really great to have you on the show. And so we're going to talk a bit about your book, Why design matters. And I thought maybe the best place to start would be to mention the fact that I am talking to one of the Oh, geez of podcasting, right, like you like a legend in podcasting. So let's start with that, because that's pretty central to the book, too. So the podcast is Design Matters. And you started your podcast in 2005.

I'm often asked when I'm writing books, what are my favourite 'writing hacks'. I find this hilarious, as writing is about as 'un-hacky' as any activity can be - there are certainly some good practices, but there are few shortcuts, and it's mostly a long slog that requires a lot of patience and even a touch of masochism.

But there is one trick I learnt, that I think we can apply it to productivity as a whole. It solves the problem of 're-entry' to any knowledge-based task - the bit where we are trying to get back in the groove after a break or interruption and we give ourselves the self-talk of "ok, so... where was I? wait... I was talking about this... that goes there..." and so on.

It's a simple trick. I can't remember where I got it from, but when I started using it a few years ago, I regretted not learning it about 3 books earlier. Here it is.

My guest today is Ranjay Gulati. Ranjay is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High Performing Companies. In this episode, we talk about how to harness a sense of purpose to create a great team, the power of good storytelling, and Randy offers some leadership lessons from the Seattle Seahawks NFL team and Howard Schultz at Starbucks and stay tuned at the end for a great story about Rand Jay's mum as well. This is Ranjay Gulati.

Grande Welcome to Beyond Busy from a very cold, Massachusetts.

Ranjay Gulati 1:27

Thank you, Graham, my pleasure to be here with you. Today,

Graham Allcott 1:29

we're gonna talk about your new book, which has deep purpose. And your background as a professor at Harvard, Harvard Business School. I guess that brings you into contact with a lot of different organisations of all different shapes and sizes. Tell Tell me just first of all, when we think about purpose, and what's been going on over the last couple of years of COVID, do you think that there's been more of a focus from people on the idea of purpose and people wanting to have a sense of purpose individually? And also, corporately? Well,

My guest today is Sarah Stein Greenberg. Sarah is the executive director of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University, better known as d.school. And she's built her career on helping companies unlock innovation and creativity. She's also the author of a new book, Creative Acts for Curious People. In this episode, we talk about how boredom helps you to be creative, the questions to ask instead of making small talk, how design can help you reframe your problems, way to develop empathy, and much more. It's a book chock full of takeaways, and the conversation is to this is Sarah Stein Greenberg.

So I'm with Sarah Stein Greenberg. How are you?

Sarah Stein Greenberg 1:30

I'm great, Graham, it's so nice to be here.

There’s a difference between mistakes and negligence. Negligence is where the proper care has not been taken. In cases where negligence puts people or assets at risk, or when behaviour is knowingly wide of the expected standards, then this is clearly a serious issue that needs acting upon.

Mistakes, on the other hand, are where someone has take their best guess, or tried something, and it turned out to be misguided or wrong. Mistakes don’t lack care, they just lack the right data or judgement. We all make mistakes. Mistakes are part and parcel of work.

My guest today is James Routledge. James is a mental health advocate and author of the book Mental Health at Work. After burning out 24, when his first business failed, he founded Sanctus, who are on a mission to help companies invest in the mental health of their employees.

In this episode, James talks openly about his experiences, we cover some of the myths of mental health, how to manage boundaries, and how to question some of the conventional narratives on mental health. It's a really important conversation. This is James Routledge.

This week I've been doing a lot of research and writing about what it means to be a kind listener. I've been reading psychology papers, talking to some folks, noticing my own thought processes when in conversation, and just generally being hyper-aware of the whole concept of listening.

It's funny, isn't it? We all do it every day. We occasionally give it some thought - such as you're doing as you read this right now - but for the most part it's a skill that we take for granted, and an improvement opportunity that many overlook. Perhaps like driving, everyone thinks they're a better than average listener. As is the case with driving, that can't actually be true, can it?

Here are the Top 5 productivity books that have really changed my life.

Graham Allcott 0:07

My guest today is General Stanley McChrystal, General McChrystal led a stellar military career culminating in becoming the commander of US and allied forces in Afghanistan. And since leaving the US military, he's founded the McChrystal Group, and has also written several books. His latest book is called Risk: A User's Guide. So in this episode, we talk about different ways to think about risks, how he led an information sharing revolution in the American Secret Services, the recent phone call, patching up his differences with Joe Biden and what it was like to get sacked, but in a kind way by Barack Obama, I could have listened to Stan talk all day. This is General Stanley McChrystal,

General Stan McChrystal, welcome to be on busy. Well, how are you doing today?

Stanley McChrystal 1:32

Doing great, thanks for having me,

Graham Allcott 1:33

you're recording and talk to me from a very purpose built high tech office in Virginia?

I suffer from occasional bouts of depression. Mostly it's fine. I just spend a couple of days in bed whilst the world thinks I'm out there being uber-productive, and no one notices. A couple of times in my life, it's gotten more serious, required some happy pills and taken me longer to recover from. It's not a big deal, and I know many people suffer from it much more deeply than I do. One thing I do know is that 99% of the days depression hits me are in the winter. As the darkness sets in, I often feel sluggish and lethargic, the thoughts go a little darker, and things I'd cope well with normally suddenly send me into a spiral of confusion. In recent years, I've taken more proactive steps to avoid winter depression and I think a lot of it has worked pretty well. But since I've felt a bit of a sense of dread this week, I'm chancing my arm that some of you may have felt that too.

So if, like me, you struggle with winter, or if the "pandemic deja vu" news cycle of the last week has started giving you sinking feelings, then this week I just wanted to offer some ideas for getting through to the other side - some thoughts on surviving the winter demons.

My guest today is Emily Chang. Emily is the CEO of the McCann group, a 400 plus marketing agency based in Shanghai, China. And she has also held senior roles at Apple and Starbucks, and she's the author of the spare room. In this episode, we talk about her making the move to work in China, and she tells us the story of opening up her spare room to strangers, and why social legacy and living an intentional life really matter. She also shares some stories about the kind leaders who inspired her along the way and what makes her tick. And honestly, I could listen to her all day. It was such a treat to do this one. This is Emily Chang. Emily Chang, welcome to be on busy.

Emily Chang 1:27

Thank you so much for having me.

Graham Allcott 1:28

Firstly, I want to talk to you about so you're CEO of the Macan group, based in China for 100 plus people. And it feels like you've had, you've had about eight careers already, like just just you're a bit of a powerhouse, I've you with the various companies that you've worked for. So you spent a long time working for Procter and Gamble. You worked for Apple, you work for Starbucks, so I just love to dig into that a little bit. So perhaps what I'll just hand it over to you and just say what have been your highlights working with some of those amazing companies?

My guest today is Ole Kassow. Ole is a social entrepreneur based in Denmark and the founder of Cycling Without Age, a global movement bringing together volunteers to provide cycle rides outdoors to older people who would otherwise be stuck inside. He's also spent a lifetime experimenting with different ways to bring kindness into the world of work.

And in this episode, we talk about his journey creating Cycling Without Age and growing it to become a truly global organisation the importance of intergenerational conversations, his experiments and slowness why kindness is good for business and how his dad inspired his playful spirit. I think you're gonna love this one. This is Ole Kassow. Ole, how's Copenhagen today?

Ole Kassow 1:31

Copenhagen is rainy. Today,

Graham Allcott 1:33

you are the founder of Cycling Without Age. It's an incredible organisation in terms of just its reach around the world and just feels like it's really captured people's imaginations, do you want to just tell us the story festival what is Cycling Without Age?