How to Maximize Your Day Without Sacrificing Anything....
As we know, we are constantly bombarded with things to do, and it seems like our to-do list keeps growing.
But here is the thing…. I’ve learned that to manage my tasks and be able to manage my to-do list effectively, I have to identify the low-value tasks first. Once I do, I can then quickly designate it into the “do, delete or delegate it” appropriate section.
The value of identifying these low- value tasks is that they are usually the ones that suck up the majority of the time but provides us with little to no value. This is when we think we are doing a lot (busy to be busy), but not accomplishing much of what we truly want to accomplish. The bad thing about this is that ultimately it does affect us from moving up in our jobs, or getting leads for our business, or taking care of our health and spending quality time with our family (see, how I did not say quantity?). These tasks zap our energy and leave us feeling like “we are not doing enough. I wish I had more time!”
Therefore it is very important to identify them. The problem is that when it hits our to-do list we think EVERYTHING on it is important. Because after all, if it is there then it IS important.
How can you identify a low-value task?
According to Harvard Business Review, you must first make a list of everything you have done yesterday and the day before. You can also do this with your current day to do list.... but seeing two - three days is best since it will provide you with “trends” on these tasks.
I actually like to do an audit of my time/calendar to truly see where & with what am I spending the most time with. The process is eye opening. For more information on how to do an audit, go here. It’s simple and to the point.
Once you list everything of what you’ve done in the past two days, or you see the trends within your audit, then divide them into how long did each of the task take to do (categorize them within a 30-60 minutes timespan). And please be honest with the actual time it took, we tend -especially if we have ADHD- to under or over exaggerate the time a task took. So look at your calendar and then think back how long it truly took, and write it down so that you can categorize it accordingly.
Then ask yourself these four questions:
How valuable is this activity to…
To what extent could I let this go?
How much personal value do I get from doing it? Is it really helping me to grow or expand my vision/business/career? It is joyous to me?
Who else can do this and will they deliver a better job on it? Or even enjoy it based on you knowing them?
Here is how to deep dive into these questions.
How valuable is this activity to
a) my growth within my career/business?
c) a particular goal I set out to achieve this month/QR/Year?
Knowing how this task stack up in regards to what you want to achieve or to what you value as important this month/quarter/ year, will help you go in the right direction and stop wasting your energy on any task that immediately show are not aligned with you goals/values.
Now I know you may be asking how come I did not include as an option your family? Well, the reason why is because we tend to over do things for our family, and over categorize their care and needs as important (even when it is not). And therefore, we need to separate ourselves from the family to truly access look at our lists objectively and know what our true needs are.
To what extent could I let this go?
Of course, there will be many tasks that are aligned with your goals and values. But the list is still long. The next question is all about how essential or important are the tasks you left on the list. For instance, if you were emailing someone about the task you are doing, how would you categorize it in the subject line to grab their attention and understand how important these tasks are. Would you label it
1. Essential- it is extremely important and it’s top priority
2. Important- it needs to get done today if not ...
3. Discretionary - it’s something that needs to be done, but I/we can get to it when I/we get to it
4. Unimportant/Optional - not necessary but nice to do if possible (I just want to overachieve, but really not needed- i.e. the unicorn sculpture for my daughter’s birthday party)
By labeling each task in the level of importance will allow you to understand if in reality the task is as important as you make it out to be or simply a low task that looks important.
How much personal value do I get from doing it? Is it really helping me to grow or expand my vision/business/career? It is joyous to me?
So, if there are no strings attached (meaning you didn’t have any obligation to do this task or need), would you do it or delete it?
A) Definitely Keep- It’s one of the best part of what I do in the day
B) Probably Keep - I enjoy this activity and am willing to do it
C) Not Sure - this task has good and bad benefits to what I want to accomplish
D) Probably Drop - I think this task takes too much time of me with little benefit - maybe it is best I not do it because its not providing anyone or me any benefit except over extending myself to “look good/other”
F) Definitely Delete- I dislike it and don’t like doing it. I would rather give it to someone else.
This questions is very beneficial because again it realigns you to understand if this task will help you get to the next level.
I think this question is very important for an employee... so after asking How valuable is this activity to the firm? Then you can ask this question because it will provide you with a clear view of what you should be focusing on and not. Also, it allows you to align your goals and efforts with what your firm wants you to do. This will ensure a higher chance of promotion.
On to the best question of them all!
Who else can do this and will they deliver a better job on it? Or even enjoy it based on you knowing them?
Listen, I know how we are - I’m extremely guilty on this- we tend to think that we should be doing everythig and that no one can do it as well as we can. After all that makes us the “hero” or “super woman” of our story. But, actually the opposite is true. The more we do, the more we get burnout, do mistakes, and are all over the place.
The best thing to do is to let go of control and delegate. Delegate strategically so that if you are gaining the most out of the delegation. For instance, if you are:
an employee- you are telling your boss you are ready to move on up
an entrepreneur- you are taking control of what is important and you can make a big impact. But hiring good people do the rest to make sure you deliver
personal- you get more time
How do we access what to delegate?
By detailing the task at hand and then determining the abilities and time needed to do it. Then pairing it up with whoever has those abilities and time. Because after all, not all tasks are created equal, and not all people (who support you or not) have the same abilities or time to get it done. So be judicious on what is the pairing but don’t waste too much time in doing it. The objective here is to make sure that any task which is not serving you, is being delegated to someone else. And if everything else fails, hire someone with qualifications you are looking on a part-time or freelance basis and call it a day.
Remember your time is more valuable than being a superwoman. So let it go, let it go, let it go…. (yes I’m singing it like Elsa from Frozen).
