Human beings are intelligent and expensive. We possess the ability to exercise judgement, infer outcomes from the facts in front of us, identify and understand patterns, and so on.
As such, the highest value that can be achieved by human beings in the workplace is work that yields intelligent outcomes that justify the expense.
As far as possible, everything else should either be delegated, moved to another area, deprioritised, or automated. If not now, then later.
In other words, you should always strive to deliver the highest possible value, value that reflects your experience and relative seniority.
A shortcut to this can be to use the WIN strategy. Continually (at least several times daily) lift your head and ask yourself "what's important now?" And adjust what you are doing accordingly.
Another useful tool is
Eishenhower's Matrix. See the image above. Looking at any item in your to do list, prioritise it according to its importance and urgency, then act upon it as displayed in the graphic.
