"I'm busy." (translation: "go away and leave me alone")
The word "busy" is the Swiss army knife of the organisation. You can do anything with it. Postpone, cut short, dampen, and still come across as perfectly pleasant. "What you want isn't possible right now, because I'm busy." Sounds logical, sounds mature, and nobody pushes back. Oh, you're busy, sir/madam manager. Yes, because I'm obviously not.
But "busy" is rarely a fact. It is a choice. We pretend that busyness happens to us, as if we are victims of our own diary. "I'm busy" usually means: I am choosing something else right now. I haven't got my work under control. There are too many fires and yours doesn't make the cut.
What makes "busy" so useful: it can mean anything without saying anything concrete. Sometimes someone genuinely is at capacity. Sometimes your request doesn't feel urgent. And sometimes, let's be honest, you simply aren't important enough. That sounds harsh. But you recognise the moment you used it in exactly the same way yourself.
For those who want to place it theoretically: the Eisenhower matrix, or as I call it, the "urgent/important" matrix. Not everything can be both urgent and important at the same time. When someone says "I'm busy", that is an implicit signal that your request doesn't fall in the "do now" box. That doesn't have to be wrong. The problem lies in the packaging: vague busyness, when it is actually a matter of priority. Other things are more important, so you are not right now. That is exactly why they don't put it that way.
That is precisely why "busy" is so popular. It is a social shield. "No" feels harsh. "I'm busy" sounds as though you would love to help, but the universe makes it impossible. Victim behaviour. The other person is left with zero information. Will you come back to it later? Should they find someone else? Nobody knows. Frankly, it is disrespectful. Yes, you read that correctly. "Busy" should be a banned word. Just like "align", but that deserves its own blog post.
What if someone tells you they're busy?
You can nod politely and slink off. Then you have no appointment, no clarity and therefore nothing at all. "I'll get back to you" is often a polite way of saying: I won't get back to you.
The only option that works: make it concrete. Don't argue about someone's busyness; that is pointless. Pull it out of the emotional and into the practical.
Say, for example: "Understood. When would work?" Or: "Is this later this week, next week, or simply not happening?" Or: "If you're not picking it up, who will?" Suddenly you have a grown-up conversation about priority instead of a little performance about busyness.
Want to really sharpen it? "What I'm actually hearing is: this isn't a priority right now. Is that right?" Then you see immediately what happens. Either the person gets concrete, or they start backtracking. Either way, you finally have information.
Not in the mood for a stand-off? "Great, then I'll go to your line manager and let them decide." That is not rude. It is doing exactly what they are doing: protecting your own time.
What you can do to stop saying "I'm busy"
Time to hold up the mirror, because you (and I) do it too. My advice is dull and at the same time effective: don't say you're busy, say what you're deciding. You don't need to be blunt, just concrete. Say it won't work this week but you'll look at it on Tuesday. And then actually do it. Be honest that you have other deadlines first and ask how urgent this really is. Or trade: you can pick it up, but then something else has to go. Decide together what. That is fairer than a vague "busy" that lingers for three weeks. Doing nothing or not responding is the business equivalent of being disrespectful.
Test it yourself: replace "busy" in your head with "I'm choosing something else right now." Can you say that sentence out loud and defend it? Then nothing is wrong. Can't you? Then you know enough. I use that test myself too. It is clarifying, sometimes confronting.
And when someone else says it to you? Don't nod and slink off. One question will do: "When would work?"
I'm curious how this plays out for you. How often do you say "I'm busy" when you actually mean it's not a priority? Or are you the one who keeps running into that same wall of busyness?
How can Audirium help?
"Busy" is a priority problem, not a capacity problem. Audirium helps internal audit functions work with clear priorities and smarter processes, so that everyone knows what is and what isn't being done.
- Making the audit function agile — iterative planning, shorter cycles, faster delivery without compromising quality
- Process optimisation — reviewing and streamlining the audit process: less overhead, more focus on what adds value
- Making sharp choices — risk-based annual planning that makes transparent what the function does and does not take on, and why
- Deploying the right tools — selecting and implementing the right tools for planning, working papers and reporting (Std. 10.3)
- Coaching the CAE — setting boundaries, communicating priorities to senior management and the audit committee
Want to know how Audirium makes your internal audit function more efficient and effective? Get in touch →