founder of naked leader
Add this to your To Do List…
Time to Read: After you have done something more useful.
Time to Listen: Ditto.
Add this to your To Do List…
Stop doing it!
Yes, I know that at Naked Leader we love Just Do It!
However, that comes after Know where you want to Go, where you are Now and Know what you have to Do to get to where you want to Go.
Then, and only then, Do It!
I am going to share a rather obvious secret with you, right now – please, huddle up.
Huddle Up!!
Thank you.
We are all far too busy.
Especially in our organisations – Business is now spelled Busyness.
And the main reason for this is that when new projects, ideas and activities come along, we don’t stop doing any of the existing stuff – it all just piles up on top of each other into a massive heap of complexity, confusion and stress.
If this applies in your team, project or organisation, this is what to do. First, take a deep breath – you are going to need all the oxygen you can get:
In your company, 80% of your benefits will come from 20% of your “activity.” Identify key and surplus activities by asking people on the front line, listening to your customers and bringing herds of elephants into the room. Once you know the 20%, that’s where to focus 80% of your skills, resource and energy. (Thank you Pareto).
And, whenever a new initiative / way of doing something / the next big thing etc. comes along be the one who asks “what will we stop doing, in favour of this?”
We are human beings that have become human doings, and every evening many of us stay late to tick more and more items off our to-do list.
We call it being a hero, if we were still at school we would call it being in detention.
Yes, in Naked Leader we shout it from the rooftops – “DO IT!”
Just, not all of it.
So, what are you going to stop doing, today?
Please tell us below…
With my love and best wishes
David X
I’m going to stop staying late ticking items off my to do list. that way they won’t need to be on the list and I will get things done quicker!
Stopping doing what you have always been doing is hard.
It becomes a habit.
It takes a brave workforce to adopt change and try to work more efficiently by cutting out existing practices.
Changing the way you do things is great providing the new way of doing things works for you.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
So true David.
Maybe we should stop working for the sake of working? It seems true that the prevailing philosophy is one of more hours equals more output. As long as you’re doing work, then it’s OK.
There is little questioning of the value of the work done and the appropriateness of the time put in. If a task needs long hours, fine. If it can be completed in a short time and the rest of the day can be spent doing other things, great.
I think you hit the nail on the head in that podcast! I also think it is a cultural issue with very wide implications.
David this is really helpful – in our personal and professional lives – and is particularly relevant to a university team that I am reviewing at the moment and hope to support in the future –
I’m going to stop adding things to my to-do list which should go into the calendar or reference notes instead (and in so doing I’ll get them out of my headspace).
It’s like having meetings for the sake of meetings.
That is definitely something we should stop doing!
The implications to this naked Leader week are vast.
What is stopping us doing less but being more productive at the same time?
We spend a lot of time doing things we don’t actually need to spend time on.
Cut out the stuff we don’t need to do and just concentrate on the other more important aspects of the business. Or are they?
My friend says his son stops doing something the moment something better comes along. That’s children all over.
Nothing is better than devising a new way of doing something and removing the obstacle that was the old and less efficient way.
Time evolves, so do practises. Out with the old in with the new. That’s life.
Thank you for all of your comments, thoughts and stories. I think this subject is of growing importance in organisations, and in our personal lives. David
Particularly personal, i think, we all need to be more organised and do things more cleverly.