Stop Doing That

I have too many RSS feeds. I receive and send too many emails. My calendar is too full. My project list is too lengthy. I am a totally average person working in a law firm. What to do?

1. Figure out what in your world is waste
2. Stop doing it

Simple, right? Perhaps one thing I should stop is asking redundant questions.

One way to consider your actions with the goal of stopping waste is use the 5 Whys method for your daily work. What is the root cause for why you are doing what you are doing?

Here is a practical example.

Me, speaking to myself: “Why are you monitoring the firm name using a Google News RSS feed?”
1. Because I want to know when the firm is mentioned in the news.
Why (do you want to know)?
2. So that I can let the Marketing Department know.
Why (are YOU doing it)?
3. Something might get missed if I don’t watch for this?
Why (is this really your responsibility)?
4. Not sure, I suppose someone from the Marketing department has this handled.
Action – Check with Marketing to ensure they own the process and then Stop the RSS feed.

One item off of the list and I didn’t even get to the fifth Why. My story is an example of Extra Processing.

Is there something that you can stop?