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It’s getting in here. Pressure’s on.
Expectations are expanding, budgets are shrinking, and headcount is frozen. And “do more with less” is thing we’re all being asked to do…with no real instruction on how. Makes so many of us feel expendable.
Most people start by looking at their overflowing plates - peas and carrots rolling onto the floor - and asking, “How can I make room for this new thing?”
But what we should be asking instead is “Why is all of this still on the plate to begin with?”
How do you clean out a closet?
My approach once looked like this: peek inside and ask myself “what needs to go?” Then after hours of deliberation a moth-eaten sweater and 2 pairs of pants would make it into the donate pile.
But the great Marie Kondo of life-changing magic-fame taught me otherwise. The right way is to empty the closet completely. And then ask the question “what uniquely deserves to go back in and why?”
This perspective shift not only helps you find the dupes and irrelevants you’ve been hanging onto…but it forces you to make space for things that have needed to go in but just couldn’t find a hanger.
We need to treat our work the same way.
Too often, we keep tasks, rituals, or meetings around because they’re familiar. They have history and momentum. But are no longer purposeful.
Like honestly - if you really challenged every standing meeting; every business unit review deck your team spends hours building; every dashboard, memo, update. Does every one of them deliver an impact equal to the effort put in?
And what aren’t you currently doing that you should and could be doing if you really took a hard look at your plate?
Try this instead
Pull everything off the plate. All of it.
Then, item by item, ask:
- Is this creating meaningful impact or just activity?
- Is this serving a current, critical goal, or just hanging on from a past one?
- Can this be simplified, automated, delegated, or stopped?
- Does this help us do better work, or just create the appearance of progress?
Some work will pass the test. Some won’t.
And the hardest things to cut will be the ones that make us feel useful — even if they aren’t truly valuable.
That’s where leadership comes in.
Doing more isn’t about doing everything
Doing more means creating more value. More outcomes, not doing more work.
When we’re flush with resources we get lazy. Complacent.
It’s actually these times of constraint that teach us to create. To innovate, collaborate, and prioritize like real leaders.
It’s not about proving we’re busy. It’s about focusing on what matters. And it’s definitely not about holding onto legacy work just because it’s always been there.
If your team is overloaded, the answer isn’t better time management. It’s better judgment about what earns a place on the plate, and how we choose to tackle it..
That’s how we make doing more with less actually sustainable. Not with tips and tricks. With better decisions, made early and often.
Related: What the Chicken (and Your Burnout) Might Really Be Chasing