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The Culture+ Blog

Insights to help you create a compelling and connected culture

Cross off something on your to-do list you haven’t done

Wanna be bad? Take one thing on that 150 item to-do list you maintain and cross it off… Without actually doing it. 

How does the thought of that make you feel? A little uneasy? A little intriguing? 

I try to do this once per week. If you keep a long list(s) of things you would like to do, it’s inevitable that at least one of those things has become stale. It’s not that this item has no value, it’s just that it doesn’t have enough value anymore to be worth your current time and attention. The context of your life has changed while your list has remained static.

Context is key. By default, all to-do lists are yesterday’s thoughts vying for your time and attention today. Sometimes these action items are worth the effort, but many times our context has changed enough that they aren’t.

So, give yourself a gift. Lighten that load. Cross off that one thing. I won’t tell anyone.

by Jonathan

Jonathan Wilson is the CEO of Sandcastle, a leadership training and development consultancy. He frequently speaks and writes about building high performance teams. Jonathan regularly presents his latest findings and insights to business and government leaders at local, state, and national association events (both in-person and virtual). His first book, Future Leader: Rebooting Leadership to Win the Millennial and Tech Future is available now.

Tagged: Leadership

Published on: August 12, 2019

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