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# Aug 21 - High Value vs Low Value Work
- URL: https://www.s3t.org/aug-21-high-value-vs-low-value-work/
- Published: 2026-08-21T05:28:11.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-21T05:28:10.000Z
- Author: Ralph Perrine

*More Work—or More of the Right Work? AI Can't make the choice for you...*

High Value Vs Low Value Work 

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Over and over, I talk with people who feel *swamped*. They're working at the limit of their capacity, their to-do lists keep growing, and it seems to increasingly common these days no matter what industry you are in. And this is supposedly the age of AI where agents are doing all the work! 

And there's something else: privately, people frustrated that they can't get more done. They feel like they should be doing more. 

I've been there too. Maybe you're there right now.

So let's talk. And, btw...this isn't an argument for pushing harder. Sometimes people really are working at an unsustainable level, and the answer is to reduce the load—not find another productivity trick.

But there's another possibility worth getting curious about:

**Maybe the problem isn't how much work you're doing. Maybe it's the value of the work that is consuming your limited capacity.**

Instead of asking, *How can I get more done?*, try asking:

**How can I get more of the *right things* done?**

This will help you open up a very different conversation. A conversation about high value work vs low value work. What are those highest impact tasks I should be focused on, that will unlock the most value. Now, most people on some level understand they should - you know - work smarter not harder. But when you ask people how to do that, it gets fuzzy. So I want to share a simple exercise that will help you analyze more objectively how to focus on the higher value work. 

### The skyscraper and the small box

Here's an exercise we use in our Change Leadership learning: Take a sheet of paper and draw a tall rectangle, like a skyscraper.

This tall rectangle represents **all the work you could possibly do today or this week**: emails, meetings, projects, problems, ideas, customer requests, administrative tasks, things other people want, and things you've decided you ought to do.

Keep in mind there's *always more work than you can possibly complete*.

Now draw a much smaller box beside it. That box represents **the time, attention and energy you actually have available.**

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/1e/c71eed42-6fd8-496e-9a70-8c65b93c91e7/content/images/2026/08/image-1.png)

That little box is a reminder of how constrained our focus and energy is. You don't have endless amounts of either. 

You cannot fit the skyscraper into the little box.

So the challenge isn't figuring out how to cram everything in. It's deciding **which parts of the skyscraper deserve access to your little box.**

## Not all work has equal value

Imagine the skyscraper arranged vertically by value.

At the very top is your highest-value work: the things that, if done well, could have the greatest impact.

Perhaps you solve a problem that's blocking ten other people. You talk with a customer and discover that an assumption underlying a major investment is wrong. You make a decision that opens an important opportunity. You create something once that hundreds of people can subsequently use.

This is the territory of:

**Right work. Right person. Right time.**

As we move down the skyscraper, however, things start getting muddier.

Something might be the **right work but the wrong person**. It needs doing, but someone else could do it better—or doing it yourself prevents you from doing something only you can do.

Something else might be the **right work but the wrong time**. It's a perfectly good idea six months from now, but premature today.

And eventually we reach the bottom:

**Wrong work.** The work NOBODY should be doing. Not you, not anyone!

The report nobody uses. The meeting nobody needs. The feature customers don't care about. The bureaucratic process that exists because it has always existed.

These things consume real human attention while creating little or no value.

## Try the disappearance test

Here's one of my favorite ways to investigate questionable work:

**If I decided not to do this, who would scream?**

Or, for a product or service:

**If we turned this off tomorrow, who would notice—and how long would it take them to tell us?**

Don't assume you know the answer.

If you're uncertain, go find out.

That's part of the exercise. Talk with the supposed customer. Ask the person who requested the report what decision it informs. Find out who's actually using the feature.

You might discover something is extremely important.

You might also discover that everyone thought somebody else wanted it.

For important tasks, try writing down:

**Task → Customer → Outcome → Timing → Next Door**

Who actually wants this? Is it self-assigned or externally required? What outcome changes because I do it? When is it really needed? And **what door does completing it open?**

That last question is particularly useful.

A 20-minute conversation that prevents three months of unnecessary work may be enormously valuable even though you've produced no tangible "deliverable."

## 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/1e/c71eed42-6fd8-496e-9a70-8c65b93c91e7/content/images/2026/08/image.png)

## High-value work isn't the whole equation

There's another dimension we often overlook. Suppose you've identified genuinely valuable work. How efficiently can you perform it? Well, here's a secret: 

*The amount of time it takes a person to do a given task is surprisingly elastic.*

It depends partly on **top-of-mind expertise**. Someone who has recently and repeatedly performed a task may accomplish in 30 minutes what takes someone else three hours.

It depends on **focus**. Interruptions and context switching consume capacity.

It depends on **mindset**. If you're convinced something is pointless, stupid or unnecessary, notice how difficult it becomes to engage with it—particularly when learning is involved.

Fear, uncertainty, resentment and procrastination can similarly make a relatively straightforward task consume extraordinary amounts of time.

And then there's **energy**.

Sometimes when we're overwhelmed, exercise is one of the first things we eliminate: *I have too much to do today to work out.*

Consider reversing that logic:

**I have so much important work to do today that I need the energy and mental clarity the workout helps me create.**

Your objective isn't maximizing the number of hours spent working. It's maximizing the value created from your available capacity.

## 3 dimensions of high-value work

This gives us a more useful way of thinking about effectiveness.

1. **High-value work:** Am I choosing activities that materially improve outcomes?
2. **High-value methods:** Am I doing that work in ways that reduce wasted effort, unnecessary iteration and distraction?
3. **High-value enablement:** Does my work make other people more effective too?

That third category can create *extraordinary* leverage. Solving a problem for yourself creates value once. Removing a barrier affecting 20 people multiplies it.

Creating a tool, process, insight or capability that enables hundreds of people to perform better can multiply it again.

Now, this also reveals an important trap:

**You can be doing high-value work using low-value methods.**

A strategically important project can still be buried under unnecessary meetings, duplicated effort, poor communication and endless rework. Likewise, you can become *extraordinarily efficient at low-value work.*

Neither is the goal.

## Get curious about your own work

This week, don't immediately try to change everything. Just start *investigating*.

Look at your calendar and to-do list and start asking:

- What outcome changes if I do this?
- Who is the customer?
- What happens if I don't do it?
- Does this require me—or could I delegate, partner or automate?
- Is this the right work at the wrong time?
- What door does this open?

Am I applying 100% effort to something that only needs 70%? What am I doing repeatedly that could be eliminated altogether?

And perhaps most importantly:

**What could I be doing with this same hour that would create substantially more value?**

The goal isn't squeezing more work out of ourselves.

I used to work and think in a way that basically amounted to me celebrating and being proud of being exhausted. I work so hard! Right? But that's not the right mindset. It isn't about celebrating exhaustion. Not good for your health or your relationships. 

And it isn't getting better at jamming through an ever-expanding to-do list. (More focused! More disciplined!) 

The skyscraper will always be bigger than the little box.

The skill is learning to recognize which work belongs near the top—and becoming increasingly deliberate about giving **that work** your scarce time, attention and energy.

**Don't just ask: How do I get more done?**

Ask the much more valuable question:

**How do I get more of the *right things* done?**

Ralph

PS. Don't forget to check out the latest [Capital Monitor](https://www.s3t.org/capital/)...

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*Opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not reflect the official positions of companies or organizations those individuals may be affiliated with. Not financial, investment or legal advice, and no offers for securities or investment opportunities are intended. Mentions should not be construed as endorsements. Authors or guests may hold assets discussed or may have interests in companies mentioned.*