1/ One thing that really stuck with me from @RealGeneKim's "The Phoenix Project" is the danger of too much Work In Progress or WIP. There's real magic about carefully gatekeeping your committed work, both in IT, but also personally and in business generally.

2/ The world changes, as do our priorities and understanding. Keeping your commitments light and short creates true agility. It's much easier to pivot or course-correct if you don't have to break promises.

3/ It's safer to say "maybe later" up-front instead of taking on the debt up-front. Good open and honest communication makes this easier to swallow. A culture where the stakeholders understand this approach makes things easier.

4/ You can take this down to your days. I used to have huge to-do lists that rolled over every day. Now I started each day with a clean sheet. I reevaluate my prior commitments but carrying them over is a conscious decision, not an automatic choice. The default is bankruptcy.

5/ My personal email box also follows this principle: I don't see it as a to-do list. It's not WIP. I look at it every day or two but never aspire to go through all of it. If it's important, I'll see it or it will come through again.