How to do more by doing less
How long is your task list? Do you add more items than you take away?
Chances are your task list is out of control. In this post I examine how you can achieve more by doing less.
Want to know more?
Each morning many of us get in to work and power up their computer. Whilst they are doing this they typically get a coffee.
When the computer has finished cranking up, the first application that most people open is Outlook (or equivalent email, task, calendar management program).
They then start reading emails.
At that point their day starts to go wrong. It goes wrong because they enter various rabbit holes and end up being distracted responding to various requests.
They’re working, but not on what they planned to do and before they know where they are, they are either working late into the evening or taking work home with them.
So how do you stop this spiral occuring?
Don’t read emails first thing.
Instead, do the first item on your task list. Then do the next.
In fact only check emails after you’ve been in for an hour and then don’t check them till lunchtime and then don’t check them until an hour before you go home.
This ‘batching’ of emails will help you take control of your email and stop it managing you.
If you set regular time for reading and responding to emails you’re going to get more done. Simple. The reason because you are going to be less distracted and less inclined to go down the rabbit holes which suck away your day.
Task List first
When you get in in the morning why don’t you take 3 items off your task list and work on the first one until it’s complete. If the task is a ‘call xxxx’ and they aren’t in then you can move to the second item on your task list.
Only when you have completed all 3 items on your mini task list can you add 3 more from your master list. Again keep working through these until they are all complete.
Get more done
So, by ‘batching’ your emails and using the time between meetings to catch up on your task list rather than your emails you will get more done.
What do you think?
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I’ve been batching email for awhile now and found it helps a lot. However, since a lot of the people I have contact with are in the States, I find it’s best I rely to their emails first thing in the morning so they can write their reply the same day.
Gordie´s last blog ..How To Meditate (For Beginners).
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
January 27th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Thanks for your comment Gordie, I can understand why you do this given time zones. You could always start 30mins earlier!
[Reply]
Twitter: giveabrick
said:
Hi Matthew,
I have a similar issue with Twitter and RSS feeds. If I check for overnight @replies whilst waiting for the kettle to boil or allow the RSS to refresh itself, you can almost guarantee the children will be late for school
As I’m thinking this through, I’m also reminded that everytime my phone pings to say I have a new email, I always check it, regardless of whatever else I’m doing.
Once the children are in school, I’m getting better at making it my habit to get some writing done first thing. I’ve gone from writing a post during the children’s bath time (to be posted later that evening) to writing a post first thing (for that day) to finally now being a day ahead of schedule. This is thanks to doing what you’re advocating.
Great advice. Thanks for forcing me to assess my email habits
Eleanor
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..How to Live in Peace Without Being a Doormat
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
January 27th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Hi Eleanor, thank you for sharing your experiences. It’s so easy to get distracted and before you know where you are you get nothing done! Great news about being a day ahead of schedule that’s fantastic.
[Reply]
Yeah it’s about how you set your day up.
Somedays I can be fighting fires all the time by constantly replying to emails and twitter/RSS feeds. Other times I can plough through the work no problem.
The issue I think is that things like email/twitter/RSS/blog comments can be such a distraction that we struggle to get anything done. Turn off the distractions and concentrate on work for a while and schedule in time to deal with the fires.
Ben Lumley´s last blog ..How to be a better dad
[Reply]
Twitter: ralphcarlson
said:
My weakness is the to do list. I don’t take care of setting it up first thing. Second is I don’t set up blocks of time which allows some tasks like email to expand uncontrollably. I am far from getting my schedule under control.
Ralph´s last blog ..Feedback and Connections
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Hi Ralph, thanks for your comment and honestly sharing your experiences.
I guess the ‘elephant in the room’ is why don’t you take care of setting up the to – do list?
In a couple of weeks, I’ll post an article on the process I follow for Getting Things Done. Which I’m sure will help you. The key is setting time aside in order to plan.
[Reply]
Ralph
Twitter: ralphcarlson
Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
I think the reason is that i don’t want to be corralled into doing it. I like my freedom.
Ralph´s last blog ..Feedback and Connections
[Reply]
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by bigredtomato: How to do more by doing less http://ow.ly/1nFgEz...
One thing that works for me Ralph is setting up my todo at the end of the day.
I find by doing that my mind can switch off a bit in the evening and it means that first thing in the morning I can crack on.
Try putting a side 10 minutes at the end of the day to set up your todo list for the following morning.
[Reply]
Twitter: hotblogtips
said:
I have to start my day with emails because of my business, the emails may change the order of my ToDo list, especially if there are requests for quotes from my customers, which I always move to the top of my list….
Keith´s last blog ..Link Roundup 1-29-10
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Keith, I completely understand why you’d do this. Thanks for sharing.
But are you running your business or are you working in your business?
If you spent an hour first thing doing something towards growing your business (maybe investing in a Virtual Assistant to process the quotes on your behalf) you may actually end up growing the business far quicker and getting the results you want far faster.
[Reply]
Twitter: bluepop13
said:
I always like to think that when you focus on what’s important first, no matter what that is, as watch your time, things will get done and time will work itself out.
Something to always look at for what’s important is your time, energy and money goes towards all that is important.
Eric´s last blog ..Lets Help Each Other
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
January 31st, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Eric, I think you’re spot on here. If you’re working on important stuff, logic says you’re working on the right thing.
You just need to make sure that any urgent work you’re working on is important.
[Reply]
Eric
Twitter: bluepop13
Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Matt, exactly. And sometimes things will come up and a quick choice is a must in determining what must be done right then and there and making sure what absolutely must get done gets done.
Eric´s last blog ..Lets Help Each Other
[Reply]
Twitter: MarkCancellieri
said:
I don’t use a traditional To Do list anymore. I keep only a short list (usually 2-3 items) of Most Important Tasks (MITs) in front of me, and I make these tasks my priority.
I talked more about this in one of my blog posts:
Are Your Priorities Really a Priority?
http://www.markcancellieri.com/blog/2010/02/03/are-your-priorities-really-a-priority/
I’m still far from perfect, but I’m getting better about making sure that I make my priorities a priority.
Mark Cancellieri´s last blog ..The Week in Review
[Reply]
Matthew Needham Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Hi Mark,
Many thanks for your comment. I like the MIT acronym.
I think as our lives get more complicated it’s very easy for our task lists to get out of control.
It’s good to see you taking control. I will check out your post, thanks for stopping by.
[Reply]
[...] last month I learned some time management hints from The Big Red Tomato Company. When 6 Aliens advocated early morning work routines I wondered if that might be the answer to my [...]
[...] of these final steps as your to-do list for today. It’s recommended you have no more than three items on this list. When you’ve done those three things, go back to your master list and select three more for [...]
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