For some time I’ve been thinking about a constant question I get: how do you find time to do all you do (successfully I hope); Work as a leader and executive in biopharma, family with two amazing young daughters, executive MBA at MIT, podcast host, some other entrepreneurship ventures, training, friends… and constantly, I have the voice of my mother telling me when I was younger: “come on, speed it up, do more, stop wasting your time!” Let me share something I never shared before: I really think I’m lazy!
As weird as it can sound, I get things done because I love getting to a point where I can do nothing. This shapes my organizational and operational efficiency. Combined to my constant search for excellence, it always helped me getting things done pretty good and the fastest route possible. When I was at high school and med school, I always woke up at 4 or 5am to get studies done as soon as I could so I can enjoy my afternoons free. And I kept this ever since, but instead of afternoons, it is now more evenings or few hours I intentionally take with my family and/or for myself. Those moments of doing nothing are precious! These are the times where my neurons interconnect and talk to one another unconditionally. This is when I get most creative!
I finally managed to get things straight on this topic while talking to a Professor last week. I get things done, on many fronts and in parallel, because I’m operationally efficient, which in my mom’s words and in my mind equals to being lazy.
No more fear of some day someone discovering it (yes that goes along with my impostor syndrome). In fact, I will be looking from now on for amazing leaders who spread love in their organizations and are lazy enough to get things done beautifully and efficiently.