If your To Do list seems overwhelming, maybe you need a To Don’t list.
Here are 11 items NOT to do in order to be more purposely productive and energized instead of ending the day overwhelmed and drained:
To Don’t List
- Don’t skip breakfast or eat junk for breakfast.
- Don’t start your day by checking the news. Digesting the news will not feed your soul. Like your body, your soul needs a nourishing meal to be at your best during the day.
- Don’t let your email inbox be the primary way you set priorities and manage your day.
- Don’t take someone’s criticism of your idea or their ‘negative’ feedback about your performance as an indicator of your value as a person.
- As you focus on producing results, don’t forget to connect with people.
- Don’t work through lunch. And don’t stay inside for lunch unless the weather is lousy.
- When someone asks, “how are you?” resist the urge to answer, “really busy.” Don’t confuse being busy with being productive or being important.
- Don’t let your calendar fill up with back-to-back meetings and calls without building in recharging activities or downtime.
- Don’t assume you can’t push back on a boss’s or customer’s unrealistic deadline.
- Don’t trade working late for working out. And don’t give up time with friends to work late – at least not as a regular habit.
- Don’t underestimate the value of a good night’s rest.
Remembering these “To Don’ts” will help you manage your To Do list with more intention and energy and with less stress.
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Joe Baker is a Partner with PeopleResults. As a leadership consultant and executive coach, he helps executives and their teams improve engagement, effectiveness, and impact. You can reach him at jbaker@people-results.com or on Twitter @JoeBakerJr.
