Your time, your choice: Ten tips for prioritizing

We can’t create more time in each day, but we can use the time we have more effectively. Prioritizing your tasks, ranking what is most important and what is unimportant, is essential in order to get the most out of your time. You can increase your productivity substantially if you knowing what you should be working on and when. Read these ten tips for prioritizing your tasks and apply them to improve your time management skills.

1. Define your core values to hep you with prioritizing

First off, you need to figure out what is truly important to you. The tasks you prioritize should reflect your core values. If you are laser-focused on your career, then career tasks are naturally more important. If you are family-first, then you may rank those tasks higher in priority.

2. Make a list

Start prioritizing by making a list of everything you want to accomplish. We call this stage a “brain dump.” You can focus on the short-term, long-term, or even better – both. Don’t worry about editing as you go; focus on thinking of as many goals, tasks, and to-dos as you can.

3. Rank your priorities list by urgency

Take your list you created and rank the tasks by urgency. This usually means ranking the tasks when they are due, but don’t forget your core values. A typical way of breaking these lists up is three categories: Urgent (complete ASAP), Important (need to address soon, Leisure (can focus on these in your free time).

4. Identify the projects

What we think of as tasks or to-dos can really be projects in disguise. How to tell the difference? A project usually is more complicated, takes more time, and involves a lot of steps. Aha, that last one is a big clue. If you can divide some of your tasks into sub-tasks, those are really projects. There’s nothing wrong with projects, but you may not get them done in their current overwhelmingly-large state.

5. Break projects into smaller pieces

Do you have some large tasks on your list which should really be thought of as projects? You should strive to break these down. This makes the task more manageable and lets you have more control over the moving parts. You might need to complete some smaller parts of your projects earlier than others. Some may involve other people or other tasks happening first. It is easier to prioritize when you know this.

6. Delegate what you can

Why waste time prioritizing the tasks you don’t even need to do? Can you delegate or outsource any of your tasks? This will save you time and energy. You can focus on the more important priorities while the smaller details are handled by someone else. [Need a Virtual Assistant? Try VA Networking].

7. Set deadlines for each task

Set deadlines for each of your tasks. If you simply set a deadline, it may help you follow through. Try to set your deadlines a little earlier than you need. This will help you stay ahead of things and gives you a buffer if you can’t deliver.

If just have too many things on your plate that there is no chance of finishing them—that’s the beauty of prioritizing. When you run out of time, know that you did the best you could with the time you had because you did the most important things first. [Slowed down by perfectionism and procrastination? Find tips in this article.]

8. Look for growth opportunities

When you focus on tasks that offer growth opportunities you will challenge yourself and your skills and capabilities will increase. We must continue to broaden our horizons and skillset, so focusing on tasks that help you do this makes sense. If all else is equal, prioritize the task that allows you to learn something new, or update your current skills. You might also find that these tasks are more satisfying.

9. Tackle the most important tasks of the day first

A classic productivity tip that you might have heard is “eat the frog.” [There is even a book by that title! Check it out.] The idea here is that you start with your most important task, that way you know you at least finished that. Some people choose their most hated task as well. The same idea applies, though; it’s all about getting it over with ASAP.

10. …or don’t

Contrary to the last tip, sometimes you are so unmotivated that you don’t have the energy to tackle anything important. If that feels like you, then start with the absolute easiest, no-brainer task you can. Sometimes doing that is enough to build your momentum so you can tackle the high-priority stuff.

Which of these ten tips do you already do, and which are new? Leave a comment.

Further reading about prioritizing

Please click on the button below for book recommendations related to Prioritizing.