This is one of my favorite work management strategies – I call it “The D Strategy.”
With every task you have 4 “D” choices:
- Do.
- Delete.
- Delegate.
- Defer. (aka Schedule)
Please note, we said “choices.” So with every task you view on your to-do list, you have one of these 4 choices.
And to choose means another important D. DECIDE.
The overarching D is to Decide. Every time you look at a task, you have an opportunity to make a choice about how you’ll handle it. You take an action.
Successful people make these choices. It moves each task forward in some way… you either DO it, DELETE it (trash, never to be seen again,) DELEGATE it (have someone else do it,) or DEFER it (schedule it for another specific time.)
Unfortunately, many people choose another productivity sapping D, — DELAY. They DELAY making one of these 4 choices by looking at the task and saying “I’ll decide on what to do with this later.”
This DELAYing your decision creates DUPLICATE work because you’ll just look at it again. This D is the one you should avoid.
Employ the D Strategy – It’s more about the DOING.
