7 Things You Don’t Need to Do Today

You say that you have too much to do.

Yet, many times it is because you have overloaded your plate.

Or you spend time on things that are not productive.

Today, I am not going to ask you what you need to do.

But rather, what you don’t need to do?

To Do… Not Required

We look at our todo lists often.

We try to fit in everything that we need to do.

However, today, take the approach of what you don’t need to do.

There are too many things that we do in our day that are not needed.

We do them out of habit (sometimes bad) or even out of a false sense of obligation.

If you chose not to do those unneeded activities, you could reclaim much of your day.

7 Things Not to Do Today

Get more done by eliminating those activities that you don’t need to do. (Or shouldn’t be doing…)

By freeing yourself from unnecessary time wasters, you will have more time to do what you need to do.

Here are 7 Things That You Don’t Need To Do Today:

1. Don’t Participate in Office Gossip – Some employees spend over a third of their day chit-chatting. Don’t join them. Get your work done. You will be way ahead of the curve, and if you work in a flexible work environment, you can be long gone while they are still talking the day away.
2. Don’t Read the News – In our hyper-sensitive-instantaneous-news-driven world, it can be tempting to look at the news throughout the day. Don’t check the news. It will still be there later. And most news is a waste of time in the first place, but that is another post.
3. Don’t Check Your Email 57 Times – Unless you want to be on a technology leash, don’t check your email more than a few times a day. Start, mid-day, and the end-of-day are good times. Set expectations with your team and co-workers that you are not sitting at your desk waiting for their email.
4. Don’t Answer Your Phone When It Rings – Just because your phone rings, doesn’t mean you have to answer it. That is what the “silence” button is for. Don’t let your phone interrupt your work. Remember, it is there for your convenience.
5. Don’t Do Other People’s Work – You won’t get your work done if you are doing everyone else’s job. Don’t take on tasks that belong to others. Some people make a career of shoveling their work onto other people’s plates.
6. Don’t Act on Low Priority Tasks – There are some tasks that just don’t matter. Don’t feel obligated to do a task just because you wrote it on your list. Cross it off. Move on.
7. Don’t Associate with Negative People – Negative individuals are a double whammy. They not only waste your time, but they zap your energy. Don’t hang out with them. They will not only steal your time, but your attitude, as well.

Don’t Do It Today

Much of our daily time and effort is spent on things that don’t need to be done.

Some are low priority, others are just plain time wasters.

Reclaim some of your day by not doing these extraneous activities.

You might just find enough time to do what you need to do.

Question: What don’t you have to do today?