đźš©Tactical Memo 019: Bogged Down in Tasks Instead of Operational Growth
Justin Bateh
October 02, 2025
Read time: 8 minutes
Welcome to Tactical Memo, my newsletter where I share frameworks, strategies, and hard-earned lessons for leaders navigating complex environments.
If you’re looking for my cheat sheets and deep-dive guides, the vault is linked at the bottom of this email.
👉 Why Read This Edition: You will stop drowning in tasks and instead create time for operational growth by systematically eliminating, delegating, or automating low-value work.
The Briefing: Today’s Focus
Why Being Busy Makes You Replaceable
The Rule: If You Stay in the Weeds, You Never Scale
A Tactical Playbook: How to Escape Task Trap and Drive Operational Growth
What’s Happening: General Updates
A Reader’s Question: How Do You Get Out of the Weeds Without Looking Like You’re Avoiding Work?
‼️‼️‼️ Important: On October 6th, the next AI-Powered Project Management cohort begins. October is the final full track of AI-Powered Project Management in 2025 before the tuition increases in 2026 from $895 → $1,495. Full track means you get a free repeat in November.
Why Being Busy Makes You Replaceable
If you are drowning in tasks every day, here is the brutal truth:
You look efficient, but not strategic.
You look hardworking, but not indispensable.
You are doing work a cheaper resource could be doing.
Grinding through tasks feels safe. It feels like progress. But it signals to everyone around you that you are an operator, not a builder.
And operators are replaceable. Builders are not.
The shift is clear: your value is no longer in how much you can do, but in how much growth you can create.
The Rule: If You Stay in the Weeds, You Never Scale
Every hour you spend clearing tasks is an hour stolen from:
Fixing broken systems that create those tasks.
Coaching your team to own more.
Building processes that multiply output.
Driving the next level of growth that makes you essential.
If you want a bigger seat, you must stop being the person who checks boxes and start being the person who changes the system.
A Tactical Playbook: How to Escape the Task Trap
Step 1. Run the “System or One-Off” Test
Open your task list. For each item, ask: Is this a one-off, or is this a recurring symptom of a broken system?
If it is one-off, delegate it.
If it is recurring, your real task is to fix the system so it never appears again.
This alone will slash your load because most of your list is recurring noise you keep tolerating.
Step 2. Fire Yourself From Ten Tasks This Week
Identify ten tasks you do regularly that someone else could own with 70% success.
Write a one-page SOP (standard operating procedure) for each. Bullet points only.
Hand them off. Let people learn. Accept 70% quality at first.
The point is not perfection. It is freeing your calendar for higher-value moves.
Step 3. Block “Growth Time” in Your Calendar
Pick two 90–minute slots this week.
Label them Operational Growth.
During that time, you are banned from touching your task list. Instead, you:
Map a broken workflow.
Redesign a reporting process.
Automate something stupid you have been tolerating.
Coach a team member to take real ownership.
If you don’t block it, tasks will eat it.
Step 4. Stop Being the Default Problem Solver
Right now, people probably come to you with every fire. That’s why you are overloaded. Flip it.
When someone brings you a problem, ask: “What two solutions have you considered?”
Make them propose. You approve.
Over time, they stop coming with fires and start coming with solutions.
This reduces your workload while multiplying your leverage.
Step 5. Measure Yourself by Multiplication, Not Output
Stop tracking how many tasks you complete. Start tracking:
How many hours you freed for your team.
How many workflows you eliminated or automated.
How much more output your team produces without you in the weeds.
This reframes you from a task finisher to a growth leader.
What’s Happening – General Updates
🙇 Join the AI-Powered Project Management cohort. This course shows leaders how to combine project execution with AI, and equips you with the exact playbooks you need to stay indispensable. It’s ranked the #1 Project Management course on Maven Learning and carries a 4.9/5 student rating.
The Briefing: Reader’s Question
Q: “I know I’m too deep in the weeds. I spend 10+ hours a day just putting out fires and clearing my task list. The problem is, I feel guilty if I don’t. My team looks at me like I’m slacking if I step back. How do I pull myself out of the weeds without looking like I’m avoiding work?”
A: Here is the paradox: if you keep grinding through tasks, people see you as hardworking but replaceable. If you step back and fix the system, people may grumble at first, but then they realize everything works better because of you.
Here’s how to make the shift without losing credibility:
Signal the Change. Tell your team: “I’m moving my focus from tasks to fixing systems so you have fewer tasks. That’s how we scale.” Frame it as protecting them, not avoiding work.
Show Quick Wins. In your first “growth block,” fix something visible: automate a report, redesign a broken workflow, kill a useless meeting. Publicize the time saved.
Coach Instead of Solve. When they bring you fires, respond with: “What do you propose?” Teach them to solve it. That is leadership.
Track Impact, Not Tasks. Share metrics like hours saved, errors reduced, or new capacity created. When people see results, the guilt disappears.
The truth: people don’t respect you for being busy. They respect you for making their work easier and their outcomes bigger. That’s the difference between being a task mule and a growth leader.
Cheat Sheet Vault
p.s… As promised, click below for my free cheat sheet and infographic vault.
Until next time,
Justin
✍️ From the Desk of Justin Bateh, PhD
Real-world tactics. No fluff. Just what works.
