The December declutter: Bin it, trim it, cancel it

Each day, as I look out into the cold, dark, wet morning, I question my life choices.

(Note to my Southern hemisphere readers: I do NOT want to know how balmy your summer is right now.)

It’s that time of year when everyone is starting to run out of juice.

So my tip for you now is this: don’t add, subtract.

I know you and the rest of the world want to get stuff done ‘by year end’ (yes, I’m rolling my eyes at you), but could it, whisper it, wait?*

Can you do less, not more? And still end up in a great place when you finally log off for the holidays?

Pause for a moment to think about how you can make things easier for people – and yourself.

Can you trim down your meetings and Team calls? (Hint: tighter, more outcome-focussed agendas work every time.)

How about a quick call instead of sending 13 emails?

Or turn a meeting into an email? (Any meeting with ‘update’ in the title is ripe for the picking.)

Or…can you cancel something entirely?

There is nothing more luxurious in December than a cancelled meeting. It’s the adult equivalent of the teacher wheeling in the TV trolley.

So what are you going to do less of this week? What are you going to cut down or cancel? How will you get more done by doing less?

*If it really, absolutely, definitely needs to get done by year end, I’ll show you how next week.