💡 Quote I'm pondering

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all” - Peter Drucker

People spend a lot of time doing things that shouldn’t be done, both in their personal and professional lives.

They often become the best person at a job they hate. Or reach inbox zero. Or spend a lot of time and energy doing something for someone that then goes unappreciated.

Why? Was that the best use of your time?

Personally, I like to take this to an extreme. I take time to consider actions that I take with clients, friends, even my family, and what impact it will have.

In my professional life, I ruthlessly cut all tasks that I feel won’t drive my business forward significantly. Examples:

• I don’t care about inbox zero at all

  
  

• I kill projects that I feel have become distractions (even if they are profitable!)

  
  

• I am more than happy to give people refunds the moment it feels like a bad fit (bad customers are less likely to be retained. I cut, refund, and run!).

  
  

In my personal life, I realised that the frustration from doing things that went unappreciated existed because I had incorrectly estimated the value of a task to a person - just because it was difficult for me it doesn’t mean it was valuable for them.

I was efficiently completing personal life tasks that needn’t have been done. Now, if something goes need to be done, I questioned how efficiently it needs to be done.

I applied the value lessons from my professional life into my personal life and my personal life significantly improved, my relationships became much healthier. What I stopped doing is personal to each individual, everybody values things differently, but includes things like sending birthday cards or baking cakes for people or making detailed event plans.

Some of the simplest things I have done that added the most value:

• Sent my Mum a CD she had casually mentioned she wanted. It was unexpected and showed her I listened, cared, and thought about her despite being elsewhere.

  
  

• Started recording “family interviews” with family members. A one hour chat, recorded, where I simply ask them about their lives. I go armed with prompts, but it is largely unscripted. Very few people will have ever tried to speak with them on their terms about their life. Help your family feel truly known and cared about.

  
  

• Followed up with friends, family members, and clients about personal life situations. For example, I know it is exam results day next Thursday and I have a reminder in my calendar to follow up with my brother about his children’s results (and to ask the child, too!).

  
  

• Asked my client how their wife was doing after surgery. We are all more than our professional persona, I like to show that I care about people as people.

  
  

What things are you currently doing well that you shouldn’t do at all?

What things do you do perfectly when okay is good enough?

I shared this in my Work Smart Wednesday newsletter. Want the full set of related insights? You can read them here: hhttps://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-august-14-2024

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