Do, Decide, Delegate, Delete

We just returned from ASTA in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event was full of opportunities to learn, with management and technology classes, conversations with peers, and ideas worth bringing home. We also recorded some great discussions for your ongoing education.

Now comes the part that matters most: What will you do with what you learned?

Think about the conferences and expos you’ve attended this year. You may have a notebook full of ideas, handouts in a bag, and photos of slides on your phone. Those ideas have value only when you give them a place in your business.

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix offers a simple way to sort them:

Do: What is important and urgent? Perhaps a process you discovered is putting your team or client experience at risk. Put it on your calendar and address it now.

Decide: What is important but not urgent? These ideas often have the greatest long-term potential. Choose a next step and schedule the time to explore it.

Delegate: What is urgent but does not require you? Give it to the right person, with a clear outcome and a follow-up date.

Delete: What is neither important nor urgent? It may have sounded exciting in the classroom, but it does not fit your business right now. Let it go.

You do not have to implement every idea to make an event worthwhile. You do have to decide what deserves action. Start with your notes while the conversations and classes are still fresh. Circle one idea you can act on this week, identify who owns it, and set a date to check the result.

The return on your time and investment begins when something you learned changes something you do.