Do you have to get to the office early and stay late every day to get anything done? Do you work 60-80 hour weeks but yet feel like you accomplished nothing? Does work seem like a black hole?
Chances are you’re spending too much time in meetings, in your inbox, and, most importantly, in PowerPoint and Excel … and getting nothing for it. Collaboration is good … when you’re collaborating. But e-mail, spreadsheets, PowerPoints, and meetings where all you do is sit around while someone else takes 50 minutes to present a 50 slide PowerPoint deck that you could read in 5 minutes is not collaboration.
If you’re working 60+ hour weeks but, as far as you’re concerned, getting nothing done, chances are you’re wasting too much time on tasks that are not worth your time, and more importantly, not worth your company’s time. Before you do any task, take Peter Bregman’s Worth-Your-Time test, which consists of three simple questions:
- Am I the right person?
- Is this the right time?
- Do I have enough information?
If you answer “no” to any of these questions, move on to the next “priority” task. While this won’t get rid of all the time wasting activities that fill your day, it will get rid of a significant number, and it’s a great first step to getting your work life back in order.