Strive for productive laziness to improve your work and life

Too many managing partners work very long hours and have a never-ending list of things to do. By asking yourself some simple questions, the balance can be turned from that of over-commitment to increased productivity and a better work-life balance.

1. Do I want to do this? And do I need to do it?

Start by looking outside of your professional world and recognise that doing something just because everyone else does it or because it is the ‘usual thing to do’ is the wrong approach.

If you really want to change things for the better, begin by asking yourself two questions: is it really necessary and is it really worth doing? If the answer is ‘no’ to either of these questions, then simply don’t do it!

Of course there will be times when you ignore this advice because you are compelled to get involved because it is ‘the right thing to do’, but you need to make these exceptions just that: exceptional.

Challenge yourself the very next time you are ‘invited’ to take on something extra. Ask yourself this: do I need to get involved and do I want to get involved?

By objectively addressing the decision-making process, rather than being swept up in the assumption that you do have to do it, you will be better prepared to do what is important and to do a good job on what you accept is important.

2. Is the result or outcome worth my effort?

Only do the things which will have the most impact. What are the most critical things that you need to get involved in? What is the 20 per cent that will deliver the 80 per cent of value? Completing several small easy actions often gives a false sense of progress.

Get your priorities right and you will achieve far more. By prioritising and assessing if the outcome or output is worthwhile, you can do what is most important. All of this leads to a freeing up of your valuable time.

3. Do I have to do it myself?

Ask yourself if you really are the best person to do whatever it is that needs to be done or is there someone else in your network who is better qualified than you to do it. If there is, be generous and let him help you out: allocating work to the best-suited person benefits everyone in the long run.

The strength of saying ‘no’ should not be underestimated and can be a very positive thing. If you never say ‘no’, you will never achieve anything.

It is all about balance and priority. Overall, you want to deal with the important matters plus a reasonable amount of other things. If you keep saying ‘yes’, your backlog will never go down and you will spend far too much time working on the unimportant.

4. If I have to do it, what is the shortest path to success?

Don’t waste your time on the unnecessary. If it works in black and white, don’t waste effort in creating a technicolour dream version of the same thing. What is the point after all if you are just getting the job done?

Can you simplify it? Can you shorten it? If there’s something that you do that is complicated and difficult, find ways to make it easier and simpler. List the steps and see which can be eliminated or streamlined.

Can it wait? Is it really needed when it is supposed to be needed and will it affect others if it waits? Sometimes, not rushing into something can turn out to be a productively good thing as it turns out that it didn’t matter anyway, or at least the need has gone away. We live in a complex world of interaction so, at any given time, just about everything is changing.

5. What is success and at what stage am I wasting my time?

Having said take the shortest path to success, ask whether you can increase its value in the long run.

Can it be reused again and again? Can it have more value than just a one-off piece of work? If it can, then scale it for a better return on investment.

Optimise the investment

At every opportunity, think your actions through to the end, as best you can, and aim to optimise the returns on your personal investment. This is the path to productive laziness.