Not all work is created equal. You only have so much energy to get tasks done during the day. So, you must allocate your time and energy to the right tasks.
Before you can do that, you must figure out what you should focus on.
The most important tasks are there, somewhere, in the pile of all your tasks, waiting to be unearthed.
Let’s figure out how to unearth it.
There Are Only Four Ways Of Doing Something
Yes. There are only four ways of doing something.
You can:
- Delete It
- Delegate it
- Defer it
- Complete It
The way to unearth the most important tasks is to put your todo list through these four filters. Whatever tasks are left, those are the ones you want to focus on.
Let’s break down each of these filters.
Delete It
The first step is to find out which tasks you can eliminate. If a task is unimportant or provides little value, eliminate it. If it is not worth doing well, it is not worth doing. Delete it quickly.
Delegate It
You should have a smaller list of tasks now. The next filter is delegation. The caveat is that you have to have someone to delegate to.
If you do:
If the person can do the task as well as you at up to 80% of your quality, delegate the task.
If you don’t have anyone to delegate to:
You have two options: defer the task (see next section) or hire a virtual assistant to help you get these tasks done. Sometimes it is worth the cost.
Defer It
Some tasks don’t need to be done right away. They may be important but can be deferred to a later date or time. You can save non-critical tasks for later and do them in batches. For example, you can have a Friday Close Out ritual where you get all those little non-critical tasks out of the way quickly.
Complete It
Finally, you have the last filter.
By now, you should have a list of tasks that you must complete, no matter what. This is a list of your most important tasks. You can’t get away with not doing them because you’ve already filtered your todo list through deletion, delegation and deferment filters.
Today’s Action Steps
To become more productive, you have to implement this filtering system. Get started today with these four steps:
- List all your tasks
- Cross out tasks you don’t need to do
- Assign people to tasks you want to delegate
- Put dates next to tasks you want to defer
The tasks that have nothing next to them are your most important tasks. Start working on them next.
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And that’s all for this week. See you next Monday.