There are a number of different ways you can identify actions to go on your To Don’t List. It is important that you make the identification of items that are candidates for removal a top priority in your day. If you can make this an ingrained habit, then you can make consistent progress towards meeting your Time Gain Goal.
The first step is to create a process to identify and log things that you want to eliminate from your day, and this doesn’t have to be time-consuming at all. The key here, as with so many things, is that you must do it in writing and you must only log the activity and not start thinking about the solution. If you don't separate them, you simply won't be driven to take action and the identification will never lead to elimination. Looking at the tasks in your day through the prism of the value of your time is a good start point. You can also use the Important and Urgent Grid. but if you are going to be successful you need a proactive system of some kind.
Many experts say that the “Rolls Royce” approach is to keep a daily log in fifteen minute increments for two to four weeks and identify in detail how you are spending your time. I don’t recommend trying to do this because it can be far too easily derailed by the Tyranny of the Urgent…..and most of the people that I work with will never complete it anyway!
More to the point, the comprehensive time log is cumbersome, and even when produced, it is a one off process rather than a lifetime behavior change. In addition it doesn’t focus on activity elimination as well as some other practical methods you can use without spending much time on the exercise.
The top three techniques I recommend are:
To Do List Extension: Add an extra column to your To Do List headed E (for Elimination). Each day as you produce your list, review it for all items that are below your pay grade and put an x in column E to identify them.
Daily Review: At the end of each day, take five minutes to review what you did that day it and ask yourself "what did I do today that I'd rather not have in my day?" The Time Edge has a daily review form that our clients use. Reacting: Whenever you find yourself doing something that you feel you shouldn't, write it down there and then. Time Edge clients use the online logging function or you can download the Time Edge Activity Elimination Form to do this.
You should ideally use all three methods. As you do this, it goes without saying that you should free your mind of all the reasons why activities cannot be eliminated and allow yourself to dream. As soon as you have identified the items to be eliminated, you should put them on your To Don’t List to produce an inventory of elimination candidates.
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