Productivity isn’t about how much you do, or how fast your do it. It’s about the quality of your work.
But it’s difficult to deliver the kind of quality your clients want and expect when your plate is overflowing.
The first rule of productivity is to eliminate most of what you could do, to free up resources to do your most valuable work.
High achievers say “no” to almost everything. You must, too. You might call this the ‘prime directive’ in the achievement universe.
Cut out most of the tasks and projects on your lists. Say no to most of the requests from others. Do less than you think you could do, so you’ll have time and energy to excel at the few things that matter most.
When you do less, you can do more of what you do best. You’ll have more time to improve your most valuable skills, develop key relationships, and work on your most promising projects.
Eliminate practice areas that don’t excite you. Let go of marginal clients and cases. Stop marketing to “everyone”.
When you do less, your days are less crowded. You may not crank out as much work or close as many cases, but you’ll earn more because the quality of your work will attract better clients and bigger cases.
Years ago, when I decided to do less, it was hard to let go. I thought I could do it gradually, but that didn’t work. What worked was doing it all at once.
I eliminated practice areas and stopped taking certain clients. For awhile, I had much less work to do.
It was frightening, but liberating. I was free to build the kind of practice I wanted. And I did, faster than I thought was possible.
My income multiplied, I had more time for other areas of my life, and I was happier.
If you want to be more productive and more successful, do less.
