For each leader reaching for higher levels of productivity and accomplishment, a “start doing” list can be a friendly companion or a demanding task master – sometimes both at the same time. But what about a “stop doing” list?

Whether you have an aggressive new initiative or are simply looking to streamline your effectiveness, a stop doing list may be the very thing you need. Here are six reasons why.

Time Scarcity

The most scarce resource anyone possesses is time. Everyone has the same amount of hours in a day. Once used, they can never be replaced. Each individual activity you engage in requires your time. Adding anything to your stop doing list immediately frees up time that can be invested elsewhere.

New Initiatives

When new opportunities present themselves, high achievers have a tendency to cram them on top of everything they are already working on. The result? Sometimes they succeed unscathed. Other times, this tactic adds stress and decreases the level of attention given across the board. Quality suffers. Finally, after a few less than stellar experiences, they begin to drag their feet when new opportunities present themselves.

A healthy stop doing list can break this cycle. New initiatives present the opportunity to let old ones go.

Add Value

Peter Drucker famously said, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” A stop doing list provides the opportunity to distinguish between which activities add value and which ones simply take time.

Automation

As innovation in technology continues to change how tasks are completed, there is a very realistic chance that what required human activity yesterday can be automated today. Being late to adapt can significantly set back your effectiveness, individually and organizationally. The best stop doing lists have a bias for automation.

Delegation

Just because you stop doing a task shouldn’t mean it doesn’t get done. If you are a leader, a stop doing item could be a delegation opportunity for you and a growth opportunity for someone on your team. If your attention isn’t focused on the activities only you can perform, you may need to start a stop doing list.

Your Replacement

If you were fired today, what would your replacement continue to do? What would she stop doing? No worthwhile replacement picks up legacy tasks simply to fill time. If you have doubts that a reasonable replacement would continue a task, it may be a good candidate for your stop doing list.

The concept of a stop doing list can feel intimidating on the surface, but when used intentionally, it is one of the most freeing exercises any leader can complete. If you’re stressed, overwhelmed or unsatisfied with your performance, a stop doing list may be the breakthrough you need.

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader. Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or follow him on Twitter.

Receiving a promotion or an increase in responsibility usually comes as good news. It’s positive recognition of a job well done. But with it can come an uncomfortable anxiety: now what? How am I going to find the time to get everything done?

If you’re in a situation with more responsibility than than you know what to do with, let me share my number one productivity tip – and a few others that will help you manage the load.

#1 Tip: Stop Doing Things That Don’t Matter

Have you ever decluttered a closet, an office or a messy garage? Invariable, you found items that were taking up space that served no purpose. The same thing can happen with our schedule. The most important thing you can do to increase your productivity is to stop doing the things that aren’t on the critical path to your objectives. In fact, don’t allow them time on your calendar to begin with.

We all have the same amount of time in any given day. How we spend it is up to us. Once you’re clear on what must be accomplished, you can decide in advance to cut out not only the time wasters but also the activities that add no real value.

Note that clarity about what is most important is always the precursor to productive execution.

Do Similar Tasks at the Same Time

One way to streamline your productivity is to group like tasks and complete them together, rather than spread out over several different times. I always try to schedule multiple meetings back-to-back so I can save the downtime to focus. Instead of reading and responding to emails as they come in, wait to address them together at certain points throughout the day. Leading means breaking out of “managing the queue” mode – even when the queue becomes quite large.

Have a System for Storing for Key Information

All of your important information needs to have a home. I use the Evernote app as my information hub. All my meeting notes, ideas, lists, etc. get recorded as soon as I have an update. This saves me from having to determine where to store new information and allows me to reference it immediately when I need to. Some people still use a pen and paper journal. The medium isn’t as important is simply having a system.

Read Articles Together

One of the upsides (and downsides) of living in the information/social media age is the wealth and breadth of information we all get bombarded with each day. In any given day, I receive articles from colleagues, find news items, see social media shares or do my own research. As with emails, instead of reading each article as it comes in (and interrupting whatever else I am working on in the moment), I save them to an article clipper (I use Get Pocket) and read them together when I have time.

Set Key Routines

Some of us like structure more than others, but routine enables certain critical tasks to get done in a timely manner. Consider these routines:

• What time you go to bed each night
• What time you get up each morning
• What you do between the time you get up and the time you arrive at work
• How you spend the first hour at work
• How you spend the first 30 minutes after returning from lunch
• How you spend the last 30 minutes at the office
• What time you leave work each day

Some of these times likely represent opportunity to reduce variability and set a routine you can use to streamline your key tasks.

Delegate Critical Tasks

The #1 productivity tip is to eliminate non-critical tasks altogether. This last tip is to delegate the tasks that are critical, but do not need to be completed by you.

A few weeks ago a met a virtual assistant at a networking event. (Yes, they actually exist!) She explained that she helps leaders accomplish as many tasks as possible to enable them to focus on the few critical tasks (e.g. revenue-producing) that must be completed by them.

The challenge for many leaders who have been given new responsibilities is that many became successful because of their careful management style. New responsibilities mean learning the new skill of delegation, which can be very uncomfortable at first.

At the end of the day, your productivity is your responsibility. Some leaders figure it out and rise to the challenge. Some struggle and reach their leadership ceiling. All of us have opportunities to improve. The good news is that as you commit to improving your productivity, each incremental improvement will increase your effectiveness.

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader. Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or follow him on Twitter.

It’s hard enough to want to delegate in the first place. Many leaders lack trust, are insecure or are control freaks. But once you get past those barriers, what happens when your followers can’t pull their weight? Let’s talk about a few ways managers can guide their projects so that everyone can contribute.

Your Team’s Performance is Your Responsibility

This should go without saying, yet it needs to be said. If you are the leader, you are responsible for the total collective performance of every person on your team. Most people understand this intuitively. A manager can’t explain to his executives, customers or clients that he couldn’t get the job done because one of his staff couldn’t pull their weight. But unfortunately it’s a major reason many great workers avoid management responsibilities. No one wants to manage a poor team and no one wants to be responsible for multiple jobs all of the time. So what can you do?

Not All Employees are the Same

We also know this is true, but our sense of fairness compels us to treat all our employees the same. That’s often the problem right there. Some employees are high performers and some aren’t. Some are highly experienced and some are new. Some work best while collaborating and some work best alone. Some will get all their work done ahead of time and some wait till the last minute. Of course it’s possible and sometimes necessary to remove under-performers through HR processes. But many times this isn’t the real need and doesn’t solve the problem. First, take the time to diagnose where your employees are on the performance scale. Work with them to create individual development plans for growth. Understand their career goals. Give as much responsibility as they can handle, with the stated goal of giving more in the future. Get to know their learning and working styles. None of these should excuse poor performance – and you’ll both be better for understanding.

Cast the Vision

When you launch a new project, don’t start by communicating the nitty-gritty details. Start with the bottom line up front (BLUF). At the end of the project, what will be accomplished? Explain the difference the project will make in the grander scheme of things. Communicate why it’s crucial for everyone to work as a team and address the benefit to them (WIIFM = what’s in it for me?).

Set Performance Expectations Upfront

Next, for each team member, explain his or her role on the project and the tasks that go with the role. Be as explicit as you can be about the responsibility and as detailed as you need to be about the tasks. For inexperienced employees, this could mean explaining the implied tasks until they reach the next stage of competence.

Make a Project Plan

A project plan is basically a document that breaks down all of the tasks and milestones of a project, their due dates and who will be responsible for each one. I like to use Microsoft® Project or Excel. It sounds complicated, but it’s really not. Think of it as creating an outline before writing an article. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it will most likely change (multiple times). But a project plan allows all parties to be on the same page at all times. Even more, it establishes an added level of responsibility and accountability. It’s up to me to follow through on all the project plan items assigned to my name. In project meetings, it’s up to me to provide updates on my items like percentage completed, red flags, additional information needed, etc. By the way, don’t just assign completion dates on your project plans. Assign first draft dates, review dates, dates to incorporate feedback, test/pilot dates and final dates – all as needed.

Set Leadership Expectations Upfront

Finally, how will you support the team? This should be addressed beforehand as well. If you manage the project plan, make sure everyone knows when their updates are due. (Management challenge: delegate the project plan responsibilities). Schedule review meetings with each individual (if possible) so all parties will have the opportunity to address questions and concerns before there’s an issue. And clarify what you want the employees to do when they need help (hint: they don’t always have to come to you first).

Project management can be exhilarating and exhausting, rewarding and trying. Most of us have been on projects we loved and ones we hated. Usually, the difference was leadership.

What else would you add on how to tactically execute a project effectively?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his new ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website  or follow him on Twitter.

Lacking Trust

Some people won’t delegate because they don’t trust that other people can get the job done the right.

Being a Control Freak

Some people won’t delegate because they can’t stand for a task to be accomplished in a way other than the way they would do it.

Being a Master Technician

Some people won’t delegate because they are the most technically proficient person on their team and assume a task should always be performed by the most skilled person. (In fact, being a master technician is how many people get put into leadership positions in the first place).

Being Insecure

Some people won’t delegate because they are afraid someone else will do the task better than them, and then will replace them as the leader or influencer (or assume they will no longer be needed).

Being Too Nice

Some people won’t delegate because they assume no one will want to do any of the “crummy jobs,” so they just do them (all) on their own.

So what’s the solution?

The first is recognizing which barriers are true for us. Most of us have a tendency toward one (or several) of them. Once we can “name” it, we’ll be much more likely to recognize that behavior when it occurs.

The second is realizing how much it costs our team in terms of development when we refuse to delegate. Don’t think of delegation as simply giving out tasks. Think it as giving responsibility. Without the chance to champion more areas of responsibility, our followers cannot grow as leaders. This is critical, because the ultimate measure of leadership effectiveness is leader development. (Click to Tweet)

Third, we need to decide what we are going to commit to delegating – and then do it. Identify the tasks (or roles) only you can do. Then look at the tasks you are currently doing. Cut out the ones that don’t require your direct involvement or expertise.

Fourth, decide who will take over the new responsibilities – and then hand them off. It’s true that during the initial phase, things may not go as smoothly as you like and you may need to commit just as much time as you did when you were doing them all yourself until the handoff is complete. Remember to steel yourself against your natural tendencies. The rewards for you (getting to focus on what only you can do) and your followers (growing in their capacity for more responsibility) will be worth it.

Delegation can be a complex topic. What would you add?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or   follow him on Twitter.