Key Takeaway: There are two categories of tasks that you shouldn’t be spending much time on: the “Do NOT Do” and Low-Value tasks.

There is just so much to do.

So how do you determine what kind of things you should be working on a day-to-day basis?

I recommend breaking your tasks about into four different categories:

1. The “Do NOT Do” List
2. Low-Value Tasks
3. High-Value Tasks
4. Super High-Value Tasks aka What Mark Cuban and Mark Zuckerberg Do On a Daily Basis

In this post, I’m going to dive into the first two categories - and then Part 2 will focus on the categories you should be spending most of your time on.

“Do NOT DO” Tasks

The “Do NOT Do” list is the list of “tasks” that literally add no value to your work; in fact, items on this list can even be detrimental.  Of course, this list of items will be personal to you, but examples of tasks that could be on this list are:

• Surfing gossip sites on the Internet
• Talking about fantasy football
• Forwarding stupid jokes to your friends
• Spending excessive amounts of time on Facebook

Doing the things on this list don’t help you in building your career whatsoever.  By creating a list of “Do NOT Do” tasks and having the discipline to avoid spending time on them, you can focus your attention on doing things that will actually help you build a successful career.

Low-Value Tasks

Low-Value tasks are tasks that you do that have some impact on your career — but you need to realize that the value-add of doing these things is pretty low.  Examples of Low-Value tasks include:

• General administrative tasks
• Filing paperwork
• Entering in data
• Writing e-mails

Low-Value tasks still need to be done, especially if it’s your job to be doing these administrative tasks.  But keep in mind that if you plan on making a big impact with your career, you will need to focus your attention on the next two categories of tasks: High-Value tasks and Super High-Value tasks.

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