How to reduce your workload
Readtime: 4 minutes
You’ve got too much work to do.
I know. I’ve been there.
You’d like to get some more time back for yourself, but you also need to deliver on your responsibilities.
Is this possible…?
I didn’t think it was until a few years ago.
But then I implemented changes for me and my teams at KPMG which showed that it could be done.
Once you’ve found these, you’ll never go back to working as you do now.
Here’s how it’s done.
1. Stop getting involved in things that don’t need you
This was a big realisation for me.
You will have the opportunity to review / comment on / provide input into lots of things at work, particularly as you get more senior.
When these things aren’t your responsibility, this is very often a waste of your time. And of the other person’s time whose responsibility it is.
This is because most of the time that person will get that thing done just fine without your input.
We often feel obligated to help, as we’ve been told for years that collaboration and helping our colleagues is good. Which it is, but we can be much smarter about how we do it.
The trick here is to only get involved when two criteria are met:
The thing the other person is responsible for must be done to a very high standard.
Your contribution will add a lot of value, normally due to your expertise or experience.
If both of those aren’t met, do not get involved.
If only one is met, e.g. the thing must be done to a very high standard, but your contribution is only tinkering around the edges, that’s a waste of your time.
Similarly, if the thing doesn’t need to be done to a very high standard, then even if you’re an expert in that area, your expertise in getting it perfect is not required.
When you stop getting involved in things that don’t need you, you not only free up more time for yourself, you also free up more time for the other person. Because they don’t need to respond to your comments.
2. Stop gold plating things that don’t need it
We have to decide how well something needs to be done before we start doing it.
Most of us don’t do that.
Most of us start something and get it to as good as we can with the time available.
In some instances, that isn’t good enough. But in many instances, we’ve actually done too much work. By cutting out the latter, we free up time for the former.
Most of us also have a tendency to spend more time on the things that don’t need to be done that well because those things are normally easier.
The things that need to be done to a very high standard are usually harder, but we spend disproportionately less time on them.
Two things make the difference here:
Set the quality standard at the outset and stop when it is ‘good enough’, even if you can see further improvements that could be made.
Specifically allocate more of your time in your diary to the things that need to be done to a very high standard.
If you like the sound of these first two points, you will love my groundbreaking Quality & Responsibility Matrix.
3. Start being Strategically Unavailable
Your ‘most important work’ is normally work that requires just you and your laptop. And quiet time to think, create, and review.
If you find yourself doing your most important work in the evenings, or on the weekend, and you’d like to get it done during the normal working day, this is for you.
You need to get comfortable with being Strategically Unavailable.
This means deliberately cutting yourself off from your team for two to three hours a day so you can focus on your most important work.
You turn off all notifications, go into Do Not Disturb mode, whatever it is that means you can’t be contacted. And then you focus solely on your most important work.
You are likely to feel a certain level of guilt when you first do this. Because we’re used to being always available to our colleagues.
But when you see the huge increase in productivity that you get from this level of focus, that guilt will go away.
It will also go away much easier if you ask your team to work in this way too. Because when they are also Strategically Unavailable, they need your help less as they’re able to properly focus on their most important work.
If you like the sound of this, there is a one minute and five minute video here.
That’s it!
In summary
Congratulations, you now know how to reduce your workload, with three specific actions to take:
Stop getting involved in things that don’t need you
Stop gold plating things that don’t need it
Start being Strategically Unavailable
You can use my Quality & Responsibility Matrix and my talk on being Strategically Unavailable to find out more.
On a personal note
Implementing these changes was a complete game changer for me and my teams when I was at KPMG.
They meant I was able to get my most important work done during the normal working day, and I and my teams could go home earlier.
I realised that it is possible to be more productive, happier, and more fulfilled by changing how you work.
I’ve built the detail, plus much more, into my flagship corporate Masterclass on ‘Sustaining High Performance’. Attendees love it. If you think it might be helpful for your team, please get in touch.
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”
What’s your take on this? Please let us know on LinkedIn here.
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