Getting the right things done is the key indicator for being effective. 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.
Because our time is so valuable, it only makes sense to maximize the time we have each day. We do so 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 manager’s role. 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 essential to identify what our most important contributions are. Let’s do a little reflective thinking for a moment and try to determine what we need to focus time, attention and resources on – in order to contribute to personal or organizational success.
1. What tasks, activities or projects contribute most significantly to the bottom line or to my personal success and achievement?
2. Am I carving out time – every day – to work on bottom-line activities?
3. What’s keeping me from doing those things I should be doing? In other words, what should I stop doing that’s keeping me from my most important projects?
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.
Create Your Stop Doing List
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.
Notice I said “…things you could stop doing.” Creating a “Stop Doing List” doesn’t 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 effect on performance, productivity and results. We do them because we’ve always done them. That’s a bad plan!
Set yourself apart from the crowd by clarifying your most important tasks, and eliminate or minimize 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. More importantly, share your “Stop Doing List” with the people who rely most heavily on you for success and achievement. Enlist their support in helping you stay focused and on track with your real priorities.
A word of warning, though; choose these people carefully, for not everyone really wants you to succeed. Choose your success partners carefully.