Want More Time? Try Removing What’s Diluting It

Key Point

Your work week can lose its flavor the same way fresh blueberries do: too much water, not enough concentration. A simple strategy called T.A.D. (Transfer, Automate, or Drop) helps to remove what is diluting your effectiveness so you can focus on what actually drives success.

One of my new favorite things to do is dehydrate blueberries.

As I was sitting there eating way too many of them recently, I started wondering why they taste so good this way. The answer is pretty simple. When you remove the water, you concentrate the flavor.

Nothing new has been added. Something has been removed.

And that got me thinking about our work weeks.

We spend a lot of time looking for things we can add to make ourselves more productive. A new app. A better system. Another strategy.

But sometimes our effectiveness isn't suffering because we need to add something. It's because we've allowed too many things to dilute our time, attention, and energy.

If that sounds like your work week, try a strategy I call TAD: Transfer, Automate, Drop.

It's a simple way to create a tad more time for what matters most.

Transfer

Ask yourself:

What am I doing that someone else could be doing?

Maybe you're still putting together a routine report that someone on your team could handle. Perhaps you're managing a task that would actually be a good growth opportunity for someone else.

It's easy to say, "It only takes me 10 minutes." But those 10 and 15 minute tasks add up. They also keep pulling your attention away from higher value work.

This is something I talk about in my 4 Ts of Successful Delegation. Good delegation isn't simply getting work off your plate. It's transferring responsibility in a way that creates more capacity for you and more growth for someone else.

What are you doing this week that doesn't necessarily need to be done by you?

Automate

Automation doesn't have to involve technology.

Sometimes it's simply creating a routine or boundary so you don't have to make the same decision over and over.

Instead of deciding each day when you'll work on an important project, block the time on your calendar. Instead of constantly checking email, establish specific times to process your inbox.

You can automate boundaries too. Closing your office door might signal that you need uninterrupted focus. Blocking your calendar can accomplish the same thing in a virtual environment.

In Focused As A Bee, I talk about giving yourself permission to be unavailable. If everything can get your attention at any moment, it's difficult to give your best attention to anything.

“Giving yourself permission to be unavailable includes being unavailable to internal distractions, the external environment, and other people.”

Drop

And then there's the hardest one.

What do you simply need to stop doing?

Maybe it's spending too much time on social media. Maybe it's attending a meeting where you're no longer needed. Maybe it's procrastinating on an important task by filling your time with easier ones.

Or perhaps you're continuing to do something simply because you've always done it.

One of the concepts in my Juggling Elephants. book is the idea of ‘getting it all done. Not every act belongs in your circus. nor is the ringmaster in every ring. Sometimes the best way to manage everything you're juggling is to decide that something doesn't need to be juggled anymore.

Ask yourself:

“What is it I need to drop so that I’ll have more time to focus on _____?”

Concentrate on What Matters Most

That's what I like about those dehydrated blueberries.

The flavor becomes stronger not because something was added, but because something was removed.

Maybe your work week needs a little of the same treatment.

Transfer something that doesn't require you.

Automate something that shouldn't require a new decision every time.

Drop something that no longer deserves your time.

Then concentrate the time and attention you've reclaimed on the people, priorities, and work that matter most. You might be surprised by how much success you can pack into five days when there's less getting in the way.

What could you transfer, automate, or drop to create a tad more time for what matters most?