If you’re a leader who is being asked to get more done, better, and with fewer resources – especially if you’re overseeing multiple projects that compete for importance – efficiency is critical to your

success.

The challenge is how to create efficiency without contributing to burnout – yours or your team’s. The best (and only) way I know how to do that is through prioritization and specifically, what my friend and mentor Patty Azzarello calls “ruthless prioritization.”

Unlike regular prioritization, which involves organizing tasks or projects based on their importance and urgency with a focus on getting as many done as possible, ruthless prioritization trades many “would like to have” activities for a laser-sharp focus on what matters most.

People have a lot of misconceptions about what it means to prioritize ruthlessly. Here are two guideposts you can use to keep your focus on track:

1. It’s not “only do the good ideas.” It’s “only do the very best of the good ideas.” Most people think of prioritization as only doing the things that will have a positive impact. But ruthless prioritization is a higher order than that. It involves making hard decisions between multiple good initiatives. If you have 10 really good ideas but you can’t do all 10 really well, choose just the top five.

And be clear on what your metrics are to determine which ideas are best.

2. As Patty says, “Once you deem something a ruthless priority, you DO it. There is no gray area.” That means, you have to protect your ability to work on these priorities with the “merciless” attitude of saying “no” or “later” toward things that could put your ruthless priorities at risk.

To do that, you have to work on setting good boundaries. Boundaries aren’t about keeping people or priorities away – they’re about keeping our energy in. The prevailing notion that we have to do everything and do it well is a recipe for fatigue and burnout – not success. Remember, you and you alone are responsible for maintaining your energy.