Our to-do lists grow only bigger and bigger by the day. I know that’s the case for me, and I’m sure also for many of you. I proactively try to assess the type of work I am doing. And I ask myself iif I am focusing on the right thing. In the Product world, this is essential, but not only. It applies to all industries. How do we make sure we are working on the right thing? How do we make sure we don’t let our egos get in the way? Because I think often, a lot of it has to do with feeding our egos and taking on more than we should. Because we are not setting boundaries properly maybe – or just because we love to … well, feel important. Oh, and our egos love to keep us busy by the way.
That reminded me of a talk I heard while at the Mind The Product conference last year. The speaker (I don’t remember who was it exactly) talked about the following types of tasks:
- Tasks that are important
- Tasks that feel important
- Tasks that make us feel important
And I thought that’s something worthy to give a second thought to. Something that helps us work smarter is knowing what to focus on at work. What to spend our time on. How to differentiate the thankless tasks from the impactful ones. I think it does not only apply to the product world but across roles and industries. I am all for finding new ways to assess the work I do. I try to look at it from all angles, to make sure I don’t spend my time on useless things but truly on the things that matter. Because these days, I am not as generous with my time as I used to be when it comes to work. So I want to make sure I make the most out of it.
A tip to use if you’re feeling overwhelmed by your to do list lately. Review your tasks and see which are which. Maybe there are a few things you can drop off your plate. Maybe they don’t bring impact and they just feel like they do.
What do you think about this? Do you think it applies to your work? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
