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Why Stop a “Stop Doing List” is as Important as Your “To-Do List”
To stop doing is difficult.
The worst time manager I ever worked with was a brilliant vice president at a growing high-tech company. He did a time audit and that indicated he was working 240 hours a week. Since there are only 168 hours in a week I knew there were some issues I needed to address.
Tom was too scattered. He wasn’t getting anything finished. I told him, “Tom, you’re like a fly at the dump. Jumping from pile to pile.” People around him were constantly nervous because they had to stop and start at his every whim.
His CEO privately told me, “Krissi, his heart’s in the right place, and I like him, but unless something changes, he’s not going to survive. Let alone be promoted.”
People working on his team were miserable. Some were openly revolting. And he hadn’t delivered on the new system being promised to customers. Investors were getting nervous.
Tom and I developed a plan about what’s most important, and it included a list of what he would delegate or stop doing. We argued—no, yelled—a lot about sticking to it.
But eventually, Tom did stick to it, and we grew the business nearly 50% in a year. The company sold for 2.5 times revenue a year after that.
Tom went on to be the President of another tech company owned by that same venture capital group that was skittish earlier.
To follow Tom’s lead and stop doing is difficult. Many of us want to be pleasers. It’s good to feel like a hero when someone asks for your help. Saying “yes” is easier than saying “no,” but you need to say “no” more often, so you can do the things you really need to do.
How do you create a stop doing list? I regularly suggest that clients do a two-week time audit to see where they’re spending time. Then compare that to where you should spend your time—leaving plenty of hours in there for family, exercise, soccer games, sleep and yourself!
This audit typically reveals where you need to make a change to get your priorities done. Just think of time as money. If you spend it on an activity, what aren’t you able to do (or buy) in exchange? It’s all about focusing on what matters most.
What are you going to start doing now? And what are you going to place on your new stop doing list?
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