Create a Stop Doing List
Getting the right things done is the mark of effective managers. As we’ve discussed on many occasions, it’s not the quantity of work one accomplishes in the course of a day but rather the quality of the work that determines value and real productivity. In order to make sure our focus is on achievement and not activity, we have to understand the pure value of time.
We can obtain quantities of every other resource except time. Time is our most limiting resource so time management is foundational to getting the right things done. Getting the most important things done in those precious hours and minutes we’ve been given is the key to valued performance and real productivity.
Since our time is so valuable, it only makes sense to maximize the time we have each day. We maximize our time by focusing on those vital few things that make the greatest contribution to the success of the organizations we work for. Getting things done through people is the common definition of the role of the manager. I would argue the primary role of the manager is to make those important few contributions that help move our organizations forward.
Toward that end, it’s critically important to identify what those critical contributions are. Let’s do a little reflective thinking for a moment and to try and determine what we need to focus time, attention and resources to – in order to contribute to organizational success and achievement.
We can start the reflective thinking process by asking and answering these three questions:
1. What am I getting paid to do?
2. What should I be paid to do if I am being paid for getting the right things done in my position?
3. Am I doing things I shouldn’t be doing?
It’s question number three I want to focus on right now. Knowing what not to do – is at least as important as knowing what to do, if we want to maximize performance and productivity. Creating a stop doing list is one of the most effective ways we can narrow our focus and zero in on those few things that move our performance, and our organization forward.
What Not To Do
In an effort to eliminate or reduce those activities that do not contribute to your effectiveness, identify three things you could stop doing – right now – that would enable you to focus on those things that really matter.
1.
2,
3.
Notice I said “…things you could stop doing. Creating a stop doing list does not necessarily mean the task or project won’t get done, it just means you won’t be responsible for making it happen. Warning! We often find ourselves doing things – just because we always have – things that really have no meaningful affect on performance, productivity and results. We do them because we’ve always done them. That’s a bad plan!
Our personal and organizational success will come from doing the things that matter most, as opposed to just doing lots of different things so we can feel indispensable. First, no one is indispensable. Second, if you were to become indispensable it would be the result of the significant contributions you make to your organization’s success, not just because you’re always busy. There’s a difference between activity and achievement.
Set yourself apart from the crowd by clarifying your most important tasks and eliminating those things from your schedule that rob you of your most precious resource – time. Create a “Stop Doing List” and keep it in front of you all the time.