Is your productivity being undermined by low-value time sucks?
These can be anything from general admin to non-urgent emails and meetings. They’re tasks that consume significant amounts of your time but get you no closer to your real outcomes.
To counter these low-value tasks use my copyrighted 3D System.
Rule one is to only touch these tasks once! Never look at an email that needs a reply, think about it, start writing a response and then wander off to other low-value tasks… This increases the time it takes and creates stress by having it hang over you.
Instead, decide which of the 3Ds applies. Here are your options:
Do it yourself – If you decide to do it, you can either do it immediately, or diarise it – in a slot set aside for other low-value tasks – and get it done then, no excuses.
Delegate it – If someone could do it more efficiently, delegate it. This doesn’t have to be downwards, it could be sideways or upwards. But delegation doesn’t mean abdication – you still need to make sure it gets taken care of. But get it off your to-do list.
Dump it – Do this when it’s not worthy of your time or doesn’t need a response. If there’s a meeting you don’t need to be in, say ‘no’. Always remember, ‘no’ is a complete sentence.
Need some help?
If you’d like some more tips and advice on increasing your productivity, contact us here for an initial discussion.