HBR Guide to Being More Productive (HBR Guide Series)

CHAPTER 9

Accomplish More by Committing to Less

by Elizabeth Grace Saunders

Believing that more is always more is a dangerous assumption.

There’s a cost to complexity. Every time you commit to something new, you not only commit to doing the work itself, but also remembering to do the work, dealing with the administrative overhead, and getting it all done in the time constraints involved.

The unfortunate result of taking on everything that comes your way is that you end up spending more of your time managing the work and less time investing in truly immersing yourself in what’s most important and satisfying. But the people creating the most value for their organizations take a different approach. They start with having radical clarity on the meaningful ...