Of course you will be “busy” next year!  Can you imagine regularly walking into work looking refreshed, stress-free…the product of some cosmic, harmonic conversion? 
Those disgusting characteristics would definitely ignite rumors including chemical aids or a weekend seminar accented with walking over hot coals or serious primal scream therapy.
We have no choice but to be busy.  It is American and thoroughly professional. 
So, while we fill every blank square in our time management leather-bound notebooks, we probably need to ask, “Am I working on the wrong things?”
The worst thing we can do is be totally committed to tasks that add nothing to the quality of our lives or accomplish our long term goals.
Here is the “skinny” about our penchant for frenetic activity:  we choose to be very busy so we can build a legitimate list of acceptable excuses why we did not accomplish our real, long term goals.
Doubletalk? 
I do not think so.  I am convinced the business of “busy-ness” is the coin of our realm.  Our ticket to ride the train of mediocrity was paid with every “I’m too busy” excuse.
You see, staying “too busy” is just another passive-aggressive game no one wins. 
So why do we play this game?  There are three reasons.
First, accomplishing a difficult life-goal is never easy.  Yes, we are back to our psychological DNA.  We will always seek out and trod the path of least resistance when a little blood and sweat is required.  If our goal is difficult (it cannot be accomplished during a commercial break or microwaved with our popcorn), we will find a way to excuse ourselves.
Second, “difficult” usually means more “time.”  Since we measure our lives in milliseconds and insist everything around us must instantaneously boot-up, expending time is not in our playbook.
Third, we need guarantees.  If we tirelessly labor and then wake up one day to find we are still only one-third the way to our goal, calling a permanent time-out becomes a live option.  Before we commit to something, we want a firm delivery date.

So, what was the goal of your life?  Write a book?  Build a world-class business?  Love someone and be loved in return?  Feed hungry people?  Construct a cabin in the woods?  Earn a doctoral degree?
It is not too late.
Here are four strategies to live out your dream.
First, de-clutter your life.  What are the “things” that suck out your time and energy but have no lasting value?  Is it really necessary for you to constantly sweep out your garage?  Why cannot you start your workday without combing through all of your email messages?  Are regular team meetings actually producing tangible results?
Second, print out a long-term goal for your life and then have this statement made into a four-foot poster.  Attach this goal to the inside of your closet door, a wall in your office or the refrigerator door.  We all need visual accountability.  Nothing will kick your best intentions into gear like reading your goal every day.
Third, ask someone you trust to keep you honest.  This should be a person who can hold your feet to the fire without feeling his/her intent is to embarrass or demean you.  A gentle reminder, “How are you doing with your life-goal?” may be just what you need to break the mental log-jam between your ears.
Finally, throw a party for yourself.  When you start making progress on the “right things” for yourself, celebrate.  Treat yourself to a warm vacation in the winter, an exquisite dinner, a massage or a 68-foot cabin cruiser!
Today you will be very busy.  As a matter of fact, you are so busy you really did not have the time to read this article.  But, are you regularly busy doing the wrong things?  The “right things” are still possible.