I know—there is so much to do.
But, you’re not going to do “busy” anymore right?
And you have a smaller plate, so some things have to go!
Let’s focus on the following 2×2 table and get rid of the hate-to-do/don’t-have-to-do combination of tasks. Many things that meet these criteria likely sneak into your week.
| Love to Do | Hate to Do | |
| Have to Do | ||
| Don’t Have to Do | Today’s FOCUS! |
My list of hate-to-do/don’t-have-to-do includes:
Most e-mail
Most snail mail
Administrative work
Most meetings
Most committee work
Some social gatherings
Some teaching
Some clinical work
Some research
Excess extra-curricular activities for my kids
Lawn mowing
Car and bike repairs
And any task that can be automated (e.g. paying online bills, subscriptions to toiletry delivery, payroll, investing)!
So spot your own hate-to-do/don’t-have-to-do list. The key swap to do here is either to say no to the activities you hate (which is ideal), graciously relinquish the tasks to someone else (paid or unpaid), minimize, or automate as much as possible.
Let’s take committee work as an example. For years, I joined committees with the intention to make some big changes. What I found was that committee goals were often unclear with no clear budget or team mission. I estimate that only 10% of all that time invested led to tangible outcomes. That’s a crappy ROI. So, I pared down all committee work except for one. When I said no to committee work, it was so freeing. And you know what? Nothing broke down and stopped functioning in my absence!
Your list and my list will look different. That’s fine! Make your own list that fits this criteria then start chopping!
Question: What 2-3 tasks will you stop? Share them in the comments below!
