3 Steps to Reveal Free Time Lurking In Your Week

How to stop hoarding work (Part 2)

Selda Seyfi

Apr 14, 2025

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Last week I received a hand-me-down bag full of clothes and teddies from my sister for my now 2-year-old Blueberry.

As I searched frantically for somewhere to store the bag until I can sort through it, it dawned on me that I may have started hoarding stuff.

More and more I find myself tripping over toys and things that have been accumulated over the years.

What most people don't realize is that this also happens when it comes to work tasks.

Without realizing it, we start hoarding tasks that we shouldn't even have on our to-do lists anymore, things like:

We keep creating reports for people who never read them
We check documents five times, instead of twice
We send emails that no one opens, etc, etc.

Since when did we become such hoarders of work?

We've forgotten that the biggest source of reclaimable time is the hoarded work that we don't even notice we still do.

Last week we looked at spring cleaning your workspace.

This week we're going to look at how to spring clean your work processes and stop hoarding those unnecessary tasks.

This is the most powerful part of my productivity system. I can't believe it's taken me a year to even share it with you. This one thing alone could free up several hours of your time, and usually it's hiding in plain sight.

This process will help you uncover those free hours - and then you can do with them what you want!

Understand Where the Value Is

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but not everything you do is going to be valuable to the people you're doing it for.

Start with asking yourself: "Who do I work for?" This person is your customer.

Like all customers, they want stuff.

When you give them what they want, you're providing value to them.

Everything else is either unnecessary or just 'part of the process'.

Look At Where You're Spending Your Time Each Week

With your customer in mind, which activities are you doing each week that are adding value to your customer (i.e., giving them what they want and need)? These activities are worth spending your time on each week.

Which activities don't impact your customer in any way or provide them with the thing they want? These 'redundant' activities are where the golden promise of free time lies.

Decide What to Eliminate, Simplify or Automate

When you find the redundant activities in your week, your goal is to decide swiftly which to stop doing (eliminate), which to streamline (simplify), and which to set onto autopilot (automate).

Here are some examples of each type so you know what you're looking for:

Stop anything that doesn't add value to the end customer - it's waste and should be eliminated, like:

Creating reports that no one reads
Re-doing work (either your own or someone else's)
Adding bells and whistles to something that only requires minimal input
Attending meetings with no purpose
Duplicating data across systems

The goal is to focus only on what delivers value; everything else is waste.

Streamline to make value flow smoothly by reducing bottlenecks, complexity, and interruptions, like:

Streamlining compliance tasks
Simplifying handoffs when collecting information
Standardizing onboarding or approval processes
Centralizing storage or templates

The goal here is to improve the flow of work with minimal friction or backtracking.

Set on autopilot repeatable, low-value tasks to free up time for higher-value work, like:

Automating time sheeting and invoicing
Using dashboards or CRMs for updates/follow-ups
Setting up recurring scheduling or report generation

The goal is to let technology handle the routine so that you can focus on where you add real value.

The Magic of Letting Go

Think about it - just like that bag of hand-me-downs waiting to be sorted, your work tasks need regular decluttering too.

When was the last time you questioned whether that weekly report you've been producing for three years is still needed? Or if those five review cycles could be cut down to two without any drop in quality?

The freedom that comes from letting go of unnecessary work feels just like clearing out that closet you've been avoiding. Suddenly, you have room to breathe, think, and focus on what actually matters.

By following these three simple steps:

Understanding where you provide value to your customer
Identifying what activities you spend your time on each week
Deciding which tasks you should eliminate, simplify or automate

You'll not just reclaim hours in your week - you'll reclaim your sanity and purpose in your work.

Your future self (and probably your Blueberry) will thank you for the extra time you'll have to spend on what truly matters.

What do you think? Does this sound better than tripping over the same tasks week after week? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.