A Simple Question That Will Help You Win Your Week:

Scott O’Neil is the former CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment. He was a guest on Ryan Hawks, The Learning Leader Podcast (episode #419). O’Neil introduced me to an acronym I love: WMI- What’s Most Important.

It’s easy to be distracted: phones, computers, social media, Netflix- just to name a few. Equally challenging are the demands placed on our time: kid’s activities, meetings, connecting with friends, and work tasks. Life comes at us fast and from all different angles. 

A competitive advantage is deciding: What’s Most Important (WMI). Identifying your highest leverage opportunities, and then possessing the discipline to invest time on these priorities, is a superpower. 

After listening to Ryan and Scott discuss WMI, I took a stab at developing a simple framework for individuals or organizations. 

1. Ask what’s most important: Before you start the week clarify your priorities. Most of us assume we know the high leverage areas without reflecting.

Goal: Identify three things that are most important.

2. Check Your Calendar: At the end of the week check to see how much time was dedicated to meetings, calls, and on other tasks not related to WMI? O’Neill says the recipe for high performers is to spend 60% of their time on the top three things.

Goal: Organize your calendar like a high performer.

3. Time To Decide: After identifying WMI and auditing your calendar, it’s time to assess your progress. O’Neil says if the two don’t align, “either change what’s most important or change your calendar. We have to be accountable to ourselves.” 

Goal: To have the discipline to hold ourselves accountable to WMI. 

I know this week’s article seems elementary; however, I’m amazed at how often we spend large amounts of time on non-essential task. We get caught up in the current of life and fail to reflect on our priorities. This is how we stay busy but ineffective. 

This week, invest time in prioritization. In addition, maybe the greatest gift a leader can provide is removing the red tape and allowing others to work on WMI. Cancel the Zoom, free up the mundane paperwork, simplify a process- it’s a worthwhile trade-off. 

Remember, busy is a choice. Being busy doesn’t drive results; being effective does.

Figure out what’s important and get to work.