In recognition of the new year I thought I would share some thoughts on 9 habits to stop. The ‘not-to-do’ list. After all, ‘not-to-do’ lists are often more effective than to-do lists for upgrading performance. Why ? : because what you don’t do determines what you can do.

I certainly can’t lay claim to all of these and nor can I honestly say I have implemented all of these in my own life. But, nevertheless they are great food for thought and a work in progress. So be challenged … 9 stressful and common habits that we should strive to eliminate from our work life.

1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers
Feel free to surprise others, but don’t be surprised. It just results in unwanted interruption and poor negotiating position. Let it go to voicemail, and consider using a service where you can receive voicemails as e-mail.

2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
The former scrambles your priorities and plans for the day, and the latter just gives you insomnia. E-mail can wait until 10am, after you’ve completed at least one of your critical to-do items…

3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
If the desired outcome is defined clearly with a stated objective and agenda listing topics/questions to cover, no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes. Request them in advance so you “can best prepare and make good use of the time together.”

4. Do not let people ramble
Here I am distinguishing between being cordial and friendly and relationship building to rambling. The point though is, consider how much time is taken up in conversations and meetings with needless, unproductive ramble. Try “what’s up?” or “I’m in the middle of getting something out, but what’s going on?” when people call instead of “how are you?” if you want to help people to get to the point.

5. Do not check e-mail constantly — “batch” and check at set times only
Focus on execution of your top to-do’s instead of responding to manufactured emergencies. Tim Ferriss’s book The 4-hour workweek is gold for going into this in more detail.

6. Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers
There is no sure path to success, but the surest path to failure is trying to please everyone. Do an 80/20 analysis of your customer base in two ways–which 20% are producing 80%+ of my profit, and which 20% are consuming 80%+ of my time? Then put the loudest and least productive on autopilot by citing a change in company policies. Send them an e-mail with new rules as bullet points: number of permissible phone calls, e-mail response time, minimum orders, etc. Offer to point them to another provider if they can’t conform to the new policies.

7. Do not work more to fix overwhelm — prioritize
If you don’t prioritize, everything seems urgent and important. If you define the single most important task for each day, almost nothing seems urgent or important. Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of letting little bad things happen (return a phone call late and apologize, pay a small late fee, lose an unreasonable customer, etc.) to get the big important things done. The answer to overwhelm is not spinning more plates — or doing more — it’s defining the few things that can really fundamentally change your business and life.

8. Do not carry a cellphone or Crackberry 24/7
Take at least one day off from your cellphone or crackberry. Turn them off or, better still, leave them in the garage or in the car. Leave the phone at home if you go out for dinner. So what if you return a phone call an hour later or the next morning? As one reader put it to a miffed co-worker who worked 24/7 and expected the same: “I’m not the president of the US. No one should need me at 8pm at night. OK, you didn’t get a hold of me. But what bad happened?”The answer? Nothing.

9. Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should
Work is not all of life. Schedule life and defend it just as you would an important business meeting. Never tell yourself “I’ll just get it done this weekend.” Get efficient, focus and be productive in set hours. Get the critical things done, and get out. E-mailing all weekend is no way to spend the little time you have on this planet.
It’s hip to focus on getting things done, but it’s only possible once we remove the constant static and distraction. If you have trouble deciding what to do, just focus on not doing. Different means, same end.

What other no-no’s would you add to the list? I’d be interested to know.