6 steps to stop doing unwanted stuff

• Tweet
• Share
• Email

• Tweet
• Share
• Email

“I work 16 hours per day and yet, nothing seems to be happening in my life.”

“My to-do list is just growing everyday and my stress levels are rising too.”

These are common complaints today.

In today’s world, we are busier than ever. There are always things to do. There are always people to meet, books to read, ……, meetings to attend, etc.

Due to some strange gene inside us, we always attempt to do more. And more. But end up doing much less.

We always focus on what to do. It is high time we gave thought on what not to do. (–>Inspired by Jim Collins’ Good to Great)

It’s time we asked ourselves this all important question.

“What should I stop doing?”

Therein lies the key to throwing out all that clutter in our lives.

It is amazing how easily things get added to our to-do lists with little thought towards what its real impact is. Once something gets added to our to-do lists, we mostly think of ‘completion’. Rarely do we think of ‘garbage cleanup’.

We don’t have to do everything that we add to our lists. We don’t have to read every single book that we buy. We don’t have to be a perfectionist. There is none who is.

At any given point in our lives, we are sure to be doing several things that have little or no impact. And dumping at least a few of these things can only free up valuable resources that can be put to use elsewhere.

Here is how I think one can go about ‘stopping doing unwanted stuff’.

1. Note down every thing you do on paper.
   Take a piece of paper and note down everything that you do. Well, it is hard to come up with such a list in one sitting. So take your time. Take a week or maybe even more.
2. Approximately, note down the resources you spend on each activity.
   If you can, quantify each activity with how much you utilize to do it. The time it takes, the money it consumes, the people it involves. Just an approximation is enough.
3. Run down the list. Write the impact of not doing that activity.
   What would happen if you didn’t do it? How much damage would it cause? Sum up the impact of not doing.
4. Write the impact of doing that activity.
   What would happen if you did it? What would be the desired result of completing the task. Sum the impact of doing it.
5. Stop doing.
   Now, go through the list again. See the impact of both ‘not doing’ and ‘doing’. Be ruthless and brutal. Throw out as many things as you can. Stop doing them. Stop them today. Run down the list again. Drop more.
6. Review the impact of ‘not doing’.
   Now that you have started ‘stopping’, its time that you review once in a while to see if you are doing better or not. And of course, also to see if you can stop more!

No related posts.