It’s almost like we are hardwired to be inefficient.
In our heads, we believe it important to be busy. That’s what success looks like, right? So, we take pride in our workload, bragging to others about the number of hours we work as if we just got Wordle in one.
Full task lists.
Hair on fire at all times.
Always the busiest in the office.
Sales peak at $500K
Burnout soon follows.
I can make a case for this off-putting statement: 80% of the items on your task list do not need to be done.
I was guilty of this fact for years. And when I finally took a (very) hard look at what I was actually doing and realized it was not moving the sales needle and stopped doing it, I was able to free up a lot of hours.
The lessons I learned:
- Not everything on your to do list needs to be there;
- Identifying the best use of your time and then accomplishing only those actions that connect with that list is harder than it sounds but the key to doing more in less time;
- Saying “no” to perfectly good opportunities is freeing;
- The first things to go are the tasks that “only take a minute;”
- It requires rewiring your brain and convincing myself my father’s “come to America” work ethic was one way, but not the only way.
Some activities grow your business. Others maintain it. And some… just fill time.
If you don’t separate those, you end up busy—but stuck.
The highest-performing salespeople don’t do more. They do less—but with intention.
They protect their time. They prioritize high-impact activities.
And they say NO more often than you think.
Because growth doesn’t come from doing everything.
It comes from doing what matters most—consistently.
If your days are full but your results aren’t where you want them to be, it’s probably not about doing more—it’s about doing different.
