Accomplish More by Committing to Less
This article was published in Harvard Business Review, a credible and valuable source in the field of business.
Author: Elizabeth Grace Saunders
Believing that more is always more is a dangerous assumption.
There’s a cost to complexity. Every time you commit to something new, you not only commit to doing the work itself, but also remembering to do the work, dealing with the administrative overhead, and getting it all done in the time constraints involved.
The unfortunate result of taking on everything that comes your way is that you end up spending more of your time managing the work and less time investing in truly immersing yourself in what’s most important and satisfying. But the people creating the most value for their organizations take a different approach. They start with having radical clarity on the meaningful work that will create results. Then when something new comes up, they stop and evaluate the new item in terms of what they already know is most important before saying yes. Sizing up new opportunities—from a simple request for a meeting to a large request for a project—isn’t about being insubordinate or unhelpful. Instead, it’s about recognizing new activities for what they are: a request for time resources that if not managed properly could pose a serious risk to the stellar execution of the most significant priorities.
It’s simple math. Each additional project divides your time into smaller and smaller pieces so that you have less of it to devote to anything. Instead, if you reduce the number of your responsibilities, you have more time to devote to each one. On an individual level, you want to strike the ideal balance between the number of projects and the time you need to excel in them. The same principle holds true on department and companywide levels. Promising fewer new projects, new products, and even new customers gives everyone the capacity to deliver breakthrough results on what remains.
The best way to break out of the vicious cycle of overcommitment and underperformance is to very carefully manage what you agree to do. You can actually do more if you take on less. Here are a few steps to take to prevent overloading your plate:
Create a pause. Whenever possible, avoid agreeing to new commitments on the spot. Instead, slow down the decision-making process to give yourself the space to make a reasoned choice. First ask clarifying questions. For example, if someone requests that you take on a presentation, say, “That sounds interesting. What did you have in mind?” Confirm the topic, format, and formality as well, so you can ascertain how much prep work it will require. Then, ask for some time to review your commitments and get back to them with an answer: “I’ll need some time to review my current commitments. Would it be reasonable for me to get back to you tomorrow?” People want to be “reasonable,” so they’ll typically say yes. If this correspondence happens via email, you may not need to ask for the time to come to an answer—just take it.
Say no early and often. If you immediately know that you don’t have the capacity to take on a project, say no as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to decline the request and the more frustrated the other person will be when they receive your reply. A simple, “This sounds amazing, but unfortunately I’m already at capacity right now,” can suffice.
Think through the project. If you want to take on the project, stop to think through what you’d need to do in order to complete it. A presentation might include talking to key stakeholders, doing research, putting together the slide deck, and rehearsing. For a much larger project, the commitment may be more extensive and less clear. Map out what you know and then make rough estimates of the amount of time you think the steps might take.
Review your calendar. Once you’ve thought through the commitment, review your calendar to see where you have—or don’t have—open space in your schedule (see the section “Don’t Waste Those 30-Minute Gaps Between Meetings” for more about taking advantage of free time). In the case of the presentation, if you see that your calendar has open time, then you can commit to the project with confidence and block it out on your schedule. If your calendar has no time free between now and the day of the event, and the presentation would require preparation, you have a few options. The first is to simply decline, based on the fact that you don’t have any available time in your schedule to take on anything new. The second option is to consider renegotiating your current commitments so that you could take on the new project. Evaluate the new request with regard to your current projects. Is taking on this new project worth dropping or delaying something else? If you’re not sure, ask your manager: “I was asked to do a presentation for XYZ. That would mean that I’ll need to take some time away from project ABC. Would you like me to adjust my priorities to accommodate the new request, or would you prefer that I not take on the presentation?” Using one of these strategies allows you to assume a reasonable amount of commitments and stay out of time debt.
Adjust your commitments. If you take on something new that will have an impact on other projects, make people aware of what they can or can’t expect from you. They may prefer that you not make another initiative a priority, but if you’re aligned with your boss and your goals, you’re making the right choice. Also, if you let people know what to expect early on, they’re less likely to be upset. This gives you the opportunity to work with them on creating a new timeline or on delegating work to someone else with more availability.
DON’T WASTE THOSE 30-MINUTE GAPS BETWEEN MEETINGS
by Jordan Cohen
We don’t often pay attention to the 30-minute gaps sandwiched between two meetings. For most, they just mean there’s some breathing room before the next meeting starts. Time to grab a quick coffee and maybe answer a few emails. On any given day, that might seem harmless, but if you take a long-term view of your month, quarter, or year, these 30-minute spaces can take a real toll on your productivity: four 30-minute gaps in your schedule can add up to 25% of your day. Thinking differently about this floating space pays off. It’s there for us if we choose to use it; to write it off as a waste of time is a missed opportunity. Here’s how to take back some of your time:
Take a few minutes at the start of each day to identify the gaps in your schedule.
Schedule what you want to accomplish in each gap on your calendar. This can be anything from lower-value work that needs to get done (such as expense reports) to larger, finite tasks you’ve been dreading (such as outlining your next presentation).
Hold yourself accountable. At the end of the day, look back on your 30-minute tasks and note which ones you’ve accomplished.
These small spaces of time are also good for the kind of work you want to return to and reflect on, like writing an article or pursuing something creative. For instance, I recently started planning for a large project. I used a 30-minute block to start to draft the project charter statement. Later in the week, I revisited the draft. The passage of just a few days helped me gain perspective. When I revisited the charter, I was able to reshape part of the scope.
So stop looking at those 30-minute gaps in your day as a waste of time. They may be the key to turbocharging your productivity.
Jordan Cohen is Head of Organizational Effectiveness, Learning & Development, and Talent at Weight Watchers International. He is an expert on knowledge worker productivity and is a frequent contributor to HBR.
Once you’re clear on your commitments, get them on the calendar. That way you know you have time and space for the work you’ve just committed to do. With this honesty in your scheduling, you can do the work and do it well. Give yourself hours at a time or even whole days to immerse yourself in excellence. When you’re not trying to eke out 20 or 30 minutes here and there between emails and meetings to move important initiatives forward, you can accomplish work of real value—and enjoy the process.
Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the author of How to Invest Your Time Like Money (Harvard Business Review Press, 2015), a time coach, and the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training. Find out more at www.RealLifeE.com.
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