I put a dark red sheet as the top layer of my bed to add some festive color for the holidays. Within one day, it was totally covered in dog hair and by the end of the second day, I had it in the washer and reverted back to my beige covering. I am under no illusion that there is less hair on the lighter sheet but I am unable to see it and that makes all the difference.
What is the sheet analogy for your organization? There are certain figures or facts that you want to stand out – places where you should utilize the “dark sheet” to highlight in real-time what is happening. There are other circumstances where knowing something is not worth your time or attention – you can allow those functions to occur in the background or on the “light sheet”.
Maybe the red sheet activities are your key dashboard metrics of intakes or sales – or for this blog, the number of entries published. Perhaps the beige sheet numbers are those which are trackable, but not as relevant, such as total transactions or packages – or the number of words written for this blog.
The ability to focus on relevant information and to ignore the rest is a key attribute of prioritization. Think about strategies you can apply to hide from your view that which does not merit your attention.
