Eliminate

Well this is a fist.  It is the first time ever I am writing on the question always asked at the end of a James Clear email.  The email is called 3,2,1.  He normally has 3 quotes from himself, 2 quotes from others, (this week is William Shakespeare and Steve King – a graphic designer not the author) and 1 question from him.
The question this week is “what can you eliminate this week?”
That is prefaced by this (and it is what I am thinking about.) “Elimination solves many problems. For one, you won't have to do the thing you eliminate. But also, you free up time, attention, and resources to do a better job on what remains. Before trying to be more productive, be more ruthless about what gets cut.”
I have found from personal experience this is the way to go.  I have been among the many who have had trouble saying no.  As far as I can see there are at least two reasons for this.
Firstly many are well meaning and want to help.  I remember someone saying to me if they see a need they just fill it.  I strongly disagreed with him as I reckon that is the quickest way to burn out I know of. Naturally the head of an organization is responsible to fulfill obligations.  That to me is a great reason to check before committing to any obligation, and to put guard rails around it ,so it is known exactly what is being committed to.
The second reason commitments are so often made is what I call the “superman” syndrome.  So often I have seen (and I have done it) a commitment to too much.  Here is often a belief that I can do many many things.  At times it is just a matter of committing to too much.  No one was built for work 24/7.
This seems to particularly hit when someone commits to something when up and highly motivated. No matter who it is, no one is up and motivated 24/7.  Sometimes it is obvious the the commitment is an over commitment (and even when remaining motivated, rest is needed).
Why I like the email question is I would rather do one thing well than many things poorly.  I am a work in progress but this is coming home to me like never before.  There may be many jobs to do, but not every job is mine to do.