Everyone I talk to has too many things to do. Maybe there is a community out there who is perfectly fine with their to-do list. Or even looking for more to do. But those people I guess aren’t coming to me.
And being productive alone won’t help you manage your list which just keeps growing.
If you’re looking for a system to figure out how to focus your time on the right things, the 6Ds is for you.
First look at everything on your to-do list (EVERYTHING). Then go through these steps in order:
1. Delete
Let’s be realistic about our time and make the choice to preemptively delete anything we are going to choose not to get to, if we don’t choose it will be decided for us
2. Defer
Not ready to delete but don’t need to do it now? Just batch with tasks in a backlog you’ll review again at a designated time (I suggest monthly)
3. Diminish
Can you boil it down to the smallest thing that will meet the needs, what’s your MVP (minimum viable product)
4. Digitize
How can you make it easier by automating or templatizing in some way, think about things you do repeatedly
5. Delegate
This goes for other employees, other teams, or even personal items
6. Do
For the items that are left, these are what you have prioritized for yourself. Think about the time available, do you need to take one more pass on the previous 5 Ds?
Once you’ve decided what’s on your to-do list. Then we get into productivity.
You can also use these steps when looking at just the workload of a specific team or for a specific project.
Looking to get it all in control? Let’s do it together.
Sign up for the 6Ds challenge to get a more detailed look at each step. And some insight into making those Dos done.
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