Clutter steals our capacity
Do you ever wonder why you seem to never get everything done? Your task list seems to keep growing but you don’t check off as many items as you hoped you would on a daily basis? What is keeping you from getting things done? (Getting Things Done – great book! https://gettingthingsdone.com). Maybe your task and time are cluttered with other stuff.
I was recently challenged by someone I worked with that I seemed to get a lot of things done everyday but was I getting the most important things done everyday? I discovered that one of the ways I deal with stress and being overwhelmed is to do stuff. Just check boxes on my task list. But, I was not working on the most important stuff. We all have gifts, passions and talents that are unique to us in our current situation and we need to make sure we are working on the things that create the most value in our lives and the lives of those around us. There’s is a book called the 80/20 Principle. (https://richardkoch.net/books/342-the-80-20-manager-the-secret-to-working-less-and-achieving-more). Great book to unpack that will help you stay focused on what you can do to have the biggest impact in your family, department, company, and world.
Homework:
Take 30-60 minutes one day this week and look at your task list. Look at your calendar and appointments and ask yourself as you look at each item, Is This the Most Important thing I can be doing. Is that meeting really critical? Is that email necessary? Is reviewing this report adding value? Take your task list and calendar appointments and rank the 5 most important things on each list and get these done first everyday.
Get a copy of my book Choices. https://www.choiceconsultingman.com/choices/