If you want something done, ask a busy man

Master Lawlor, my teacher in Johnstown National School, used like telling us the story in Irish, of the windy day that Mary, the mother of God, was travelling on foot and having difficulty in keeping her cloak from blowing away from the infant Jesus she was carrying.Soon she came upon a shepherd sitting on a stone as he watched over his flock of sheep grazing away in a field. 'Would you kindly find me a thorn or wood-splinter to help fasten my cloak, so that I may shelter the infant?' asked Mary of the man. 'I cannot give you of my time, for cannot you see that I must watch over these sheep,' replied the totally disinterested shepherd. Mary proceeded on her way until she came to a forge, where the blacksmith was toiling away over his anvil, shaping ploughs and iron tools for all who stood around him. The sweat poured from his brow as he removed red-hot iron from the furnace but he never paused until he saw the woman and child struggling against the sharp wind. 'Can I help you?' he asked. 'Pray, kind sir, would you spare me a nail to help fasten my cloak around the baby boy?' replied Mary. The helpful blacksmith took a silver coin from his pocket and in a few minutes he had fashioned a pin with which to fasten Our Lady"s cloak. And that, according to my old schoolmaster, is why a blacksmith, with all his heavy work is never tired, while a shepherd with nothing to do, is always tired, yawning and sleepy!My Uncle Paddy always advised me; 'when you want something done, go to the busiest man you can find.' By and large, I have found this advice to be sound and I always think of my old friend, the late Colm O"Farrell, in this regard. It is always active, 'no problem' types of people who get things done. These people are far more likely to accomplish what you ask, than someone who is lazy, disinterested or 'resting'. 'If it weren"t for the doers, the critics would be out of business,' is a saying I am often reminded of. But the critics have their own old sayings too: 'It"s the same crowd you see stuck at the head of everything'; 'Look at yer man putting himself at the front of the people, every chance he gets - nose stuck in everything'. The reason for this is that it is always the same few who get asked and are willing to do things and put their head above the parapet. On most local committees it is the same faces, because these are the people who have established themselves as people who get things done: Busy men and women.The person who has little or nothing to do will always have an excuse for not doing what you ask. 'Ah, I wouldn"t have the time; 'Wait til I think now…actually I have a few things on (never one thing!) around that time - but I"ll see how I"m fixed.' And you know now that these people will be the severest critics, begrudgers and back-biters of the busy person who steps forward into the breach.I find that when I have oceans of time to get something finished, somehow the chore stretches into the time allotted, but when I am in a busy mode I get things done in a fraction of the time. For example, I know it would be sensible of me to have a column or two written in advance, but I rarely get ahead of myself because I don"t have to. I kick around an idea for an article in my head, but only sit down to write it as the deadline looms.The secret is that we should start our day by doing the hardest thing we have to do that day first. For a really productive day, busy people don"t stay too long at the same task, but move back and forth doing different types of work in conjunction with each other. This way their approach and concentration is fresh all day. Doing something physical intermittently will refresh and move your performance up another gear. I sometimes go and split logs for ten or fifteen minutes just to help a bit of motivation to get stuck in something else. The British philosopher, Bertrand Russell once proposed a four hour working day, as he believed that this would guarantee enough work for everyone. This was in 1935 and Mr Russell claimed that because people were working such long hours that they were too tired to perform to expected capacity. Of course this plan would never work, because for many, four hours is too long, while for others, twenty hours is not enough. I don"t agree that you should only be busy at working. Our mind can be busy in sport and leisure for relaxation when not at work - but here again you will find many of the same busy people, giving their time to voluntary sports and recreational activities. ('The same oul crowd stuck at the head of everything'!)Remember, you can be disorganised and be busy doing nothing as well. There are such people who are always in a dither trying to catch up - and this is not the busy person you should ask for help!The final piece of advice, for what it"s worth, is to know the difference between a busy person who will help you and a busybody who will drive you mad!Don"t ForgetApathy can only be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal which takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice. (Arnold Toynbee.)