Eliminate / Delegate / Elevate - De-Clutter your Morning

I use this process almost every morning and it has become a bit of a ritual for me. I believe that whenever something is put on our To Do List, we don't generally have time to really think about the priority that thing should command in our lives or even our day. At the beginning of every morning, I take a look at my running task list and first I look for things that I can Eliminate.

Many things that we put on our task lists quickly become irrelevant as time goes on. It makes sense to cut those out of your list first so that we don't spend time focusing on, or even reading something that does not need action from us. I remember reading somewhere that a Roman leader used to delay reading their letters by two weeks after they were received because by that time most of the things that were begging for his attention were really not important anymore and the things that were would withstand the test of time and earn his attention. Now, two weeks might be too much in the pace of today's world but the message is clear: Priorities shift and emotions affect our judgement. The first thing that I do in this process is to eliminate the tasks that are no longer relevant OR drop their priority on my task list.

The second thing I do is Delegate. This is critical to do in the morning or early in the week. If you are going to delegate something, it is only right as a leader to give your team or the individual you are delegating to the maximum amount of time possible to complete the task or the project. You should do this as early as possible to give them that time. Keep in mind, delegating does not mean "Hey person, do this for me." Delegating means that you give the individual a clear goal or process, the tools and the knowledge and that you pass on the task or project to give them an opportunity to learn and grow. There will always be some menial tasks thrown in to that mix but the focus should be on passing knowledge and opportunity down to others while leveraging that time to maximize your own to focus on the most important things that require your attention.

The final item is Elevate. After performing the first two parts of the process, you should have narrowed your task list down a bit. Now it's time to go back and review what is left and elevate any items that have become higher priorities or the due date is approaching and you haven't completed them yet. Be very mindful and honest with yourself regarding what is a priority. You can't do everything every day and doing at least three of the most important things I need to do every day is my target for success. As you do this more and more, the skill you should be learning is not how much you can get done; the skill is how well you can prioritize to get the RIGHT things done.

I hope this exercise brings you as much help with your priorities and with doing the right things every day to make your day, your week and eventually your week a success for you and your teams.

This blog post was originally posted at our Golkin.org blog which you can visit here: https://golkin.org/

Andrew Golkin

Founding Partner, Golkin Enterprises