Pruning the List
We can try every possible hack to become more productive. We can use a Kanban board to visually document the backlog. We can batch similar tasks to knock them out more quickly. We can automate, standardize, and categorize. But ultimately what we need to do is prune. If we haven’t pruned, we’ll forever be rough around the edges—overcommitted and overextended.
The point is: we can’t do everything, even if we want to. We know this, of course. But, over time, if we’re not careful, the “to do” list grows. We accept a task here, a responsibility there. Sure, we can organize that meeting for an extra hour a month. Yes, we can mentor that promising young star. Taken individually, each task doesn’t seem like a lot. But, if we let our guard down, the overgrowth creeps in. Our task list and the frenzy surrounding the day-to-day builds in pitch, until the noise drowns out the clarity we started with. We have forgotten what’s important. Instead, we try to do it all. We rush blindly from thing to thing without pausing to take a breath and assess whether those “things” still matter. At this point, retooling our Kanban board doesn’t address the underlying issue. The list is simply too long. It’s time to prune.
This week, I challenge you to go through your “to do” list and remove one thing. This could be a broken process that was once purposeful but now bears no fruit. This could be a task that you mastered long ago, and someone else would benefit from learning. This could be a once upon a time priority that is no longer worthwhile.
