The “To Do No More” List

My workload changed dramatically on January 12^th when I stepped in to take over the earthquake response in Haiti.  Although I have always felt that I was productive—I set goals based on the The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and I managed my workflow through the Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity system. Yet pre-earthquake, my work load was manageable. Those days seem like a lazy vacation in comparison to my situation today.

My biggest challenge when swamped with work is to find the path forward. It is easier to respond to the tasks in front of me than to work on longer term goals. I could easily spend my days responding to emails and phone calls and putting fires out—I suspect that some of the people that have given me tasks that sit in my “@action” folder would rather I did just that. However, I know that my days spent responding to urgent requests brings me no closer to my own goals and just leaves me one day older.

I’ve tried a number of different techniques for focusing on important, longer term projects over short-term emergencies. These include starting my mornings with an important project until the day-to-day work overtakes me, scheduling time for projects, or ignoring emails. However, these techniques seem to do little more than to give me a moment of breathing space before urgent tasks crash down on me.

I’ve recently started playing with a new technique that I read about in both Jim Collin’s classic Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't and Chris Guillebeau’s new book, The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World. They both recommend developing a “To Do No More” list (it sounds even better in French, de ne plus faire). The idea is that we recognize that we cannot do everything that we are required to do. I have urgent tasks on my to-do list that have sat there for six months. I am already working all the hours that I can work and as efficiently as I possibly can work. The only way I can do better is to be more selective in the work that I do.

The beauty of the To Do No More list is that it is both utterly mundane and utterly revolutionary. Rather than carving out time for important tasks, it becomes a matter or cutting out less productive time. I now aggressively delete emails unless I am sure that I need to respond. It is amazing how many work emails are really just chatty emails. I watch my work conversations to ensure that I am heading towards a needed goal. Yes, this is a bit ruthless, but I am on a mission.

My next challenge is to identify the work that I do that needs to move onto the “To Do No More List” as soon as I can train someone to take it over. My job is to oversee our Haiti (and eventually Caribbean portfolio) from Washington. Because I am very good at operational details, I tend to get sucked into that level work. However, if I spend my time working on budgets and reports, I am not developing new strategies or finding paths forward. By putting these tasks on my “To Do No More” list, I am committing myself to train others to take on these tasks. I get to check them off as “done” when I have passed them on and am doing them no more.

So are you doing work that would be better done by others or left undone? Could you create more time to work on your big goals? What should you put on your “to do no more” list?