Busy-ness has become the scourge of many an individual in this day and age. Technology has made us accessible and made it easier for us to access so much that we stay perpetually submerged in the noise. This is something I’ve been battling with and trying to make sense of for some years now. It doesn’t help that I am on every possible social platform out there, have worked – and continue to work – in multiple industries, have no less than 5 email addresses, try to be there for my family, regularly have 4/5 projects on the go in addition to my day job and will occasionally get in something I enjoy doing – all at the same time. Working, I’d have 3 articles in progress, Outlook and Gmail open, at least 7 browser tabs open and 3 devices on the table which I’ll regularly refer to.
Truth be told, while I always took pride in being able to multitask relatively effectively, somehow managing to keep a number of balls up in the air, over the last two years, this has become harder – perhaps it is because I am getting older. I’ve had days where I ‘worked’ for 12 hours in a day and, looking back over the day, found that, in reality, I wasn’t particularly functional. It is so easy to be busy with stuff and do nothing.
As a result, over the last two years, I have shifted my focus to being able to ‘single task’ and improve my efficiency in everything I do. Focusing on one thing at a time is a lot harder than we think until we actually try it – don’t look at phone, additional tabs, email, etc. To ensure that I become more efficient with my time, I have been reading a great deal on different productivity tools, experimented with various apps and platforms, chatted to a life coach, Graeme Butchart, and even had a session with Dr. John DeMartini. Which is why Nashua’s new “Saving You Time” campaign interests me.
Having operated with the payoff line “Saving you time. Saying you money. Putting you first” for over four decades, Nashua has taken a new, digital approach that has the potential to reposition the brand in an evolving business environment. I have written before about the need for brands to shift from telling us what is great about their product to actually ‘being’ a part of our lives. And share stories of how you are part of our lives.
With this campaign, Nashua has setup a content hub that incorporates time saving tips, a business efficiency test, free office assessment, ‘Get Abstract’ books and case studies. I’m engaging with them to give these different elements a try as well as adding the lessons I’m learning from my drive to become more efficient with my time, through various platforms. For example, I am currently reading David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.
There are prizes to be won through the campaign so check out the the site. The bottom-line is we could all use our time more efficiently and, if you are like me, you are working to be able to ‘buy’ more time to do the things you enjoy – like spending time with family.