Prioritizing Made Simple: 3 Do’s and Don’ts You Need to Know
So you’re trying to prioritize.
You want to turn the chaos of the day into calm.
You want to do all the things but know you can only pick a few.
You want to make sure your precious time is going to the right things.
But you haven’t found the perfect formula to figure out what your priorities should be.
You’ve tried the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize based on an evaluation of urgency and importance…but you end up confused and less clear than when you started.
You’ve put on your mathematician hat with the RICE method to score your tasks and deem the highest score as your top priority…but the math never seems to line up.
You’ve even tried to ‘Eat the Frog’ by doing the worst tasks very first thing…but you just end up dreading your day and still feeling behind.
You still have no idea what you “should” be working on and everything feels important.
The truth is, you don’t need some fancy tool, calculation, or strict system to prioritize.
You just need a little trust in yourself.
Here are 3 do’s and don’ts for prioritizing.
Prioritizing: The Don’ts
#1 Don’t obsess about the “right” priority
Spoiler alert… There is no right priority.
What’s important to someone else might not be important to you. What was important to you months ago may not have your interest anymore.
Pick something and act. No matrixes, no scoring, no picking based on the level of “ick” you feel at the mere thought of the task.
Trust your instincts and choose anything.
Imperfect action is better than no action at all. Stop aiming for a perfectly prioritized list. Aim for progress.
Often when you make progress on one task or a little time passes, priorities will naturally shift. Something that seemed urgent and important suddenly isn’t needed anymore when a project goes in a new direction. Or that thing you “put a pin in” last week, suddenly needs your attention now.
If you’re still feeling paralyzed at the randomness of it, here’s a tip. Keep all to-dos in a single master to-do list. That will make it easier to decide what to choose to work on. When you can see all the things you want to do in a single place, you know what you’re saying no to. From this master list, ask yourself this prompt: “If I could only choose one, what would it be.” Then start there.
#2. Don’t get confused by conflicting priorities
You’ve decided on a priority. You’re taking action. But now there’s a conflict.
You’re working hard for that promotion at work but you’re also committed to carving out more quality time with your spouse. Now a new project at work will require you to work late and miss your planned date night. Which do you choose?
There isn’t a perfect answer here. Approach this conflict with “and” thinking.
You can choose to work late tonight AND reschedule date night for tomorrow. Or you can choose to log off at 5 PM to get to your date AND rearrange your calendar tomorrow so you have more focused time in your day to complete the project.
It’s unrealistic to think you will only ever have one part of life that needs your attention. You’re juggling a career with family with self-care with all the unexpected bits of life. They don’t always play nicely. Conflicts are guaranteed. You are going to have to choose where your focus goes from day to day (sometimes even hour to hour!).
But these choices don’t have to be black or white. And just because you chose work as your top priority today, doesn’t mean you can’t choose a different priority tomorrow. Don’t get paralyzed in indecision or bogged down in hours of self-reflection trying to ensure the priority you choose to focus on is aligned with your greater life’s potential. Just choose one. Take action. Keep moving forward so you can get to your next priority.
#3 Don’t mistake prioritization for productivity
Setting priorities is not about increasing productivity.
A nap can be a priority.
A morning spent wandering the farmer’s market can be a priority.
An impromptu phone call with your mom can be a priority.
These may not meet your definition of “productive”. They don’t have to. Choosing where you are going to spend your time does not mean maximizing every minute of your day to make productive progress toward a big goal.
There is a time and place for focusing on productivity. If you want to finish a large proposal to crush the next client pitch, your priorities will need to look pretty productive. If you want to finally wrap up that bathroom remodel, your priorities better focus on making some progress.
Priorities are about deciding on a vision for your life and executing it. It’s a balance. To truly appreciate the moments of productive priorities, you need to know what it’s like to experience priorities of calm and nothingness. And vice versa.
Prioritizing: The Dos
#1 Do get clear on your goals
You need to know what you’re working towards and what you most want to give your instincts a little guidance and make your action the most impactful. Without goals, you’re flying blind.
Let’s say you have a goal to become an Excel wizard in order to automate some of your regular work tasks. Looking at your list of to-dos, what would you choose for your next block of focused time:
An hour-long training on pivot tables
An hour-long training on the latest email marketing trends
While both might pique your interest and have a place in your professional growth, with a clear idea of your goals, priorities start to reveal themselves.
Take some time to jot down what it is you’re working towards in life (i.e. your goals). Think through different categories such as your career, finances, relationships, health, and fun (i.e. hobbies…etc.). Then ask yourself:
What are the accomplishments you’re working towards in these areas?
What experiences are you hoping to have?
What tangible objects do you want?
Once you’ve got a pretty good idea of what you want and the life you’re hoping to create, you can start to filter priorities through this list.
When choosing between tasks to focus on, if one doesn’t align in some way to a broader goal, move it to the back of the line!
#2 Do re-prioritize
Life is unpredictable and priorities can shift in an instant.
New circumstances arise like a new project with an urgent deadline landing on your desk. Or a friend coming to town for an impromptu long weekend. Or a pesky cold hitting you out of nowhere.
You learn as you hustle towards your bigger goals, filling your brain with new tidbits of knowledge that didn’t exist months ago. A product you were originally super passionate about creating just isn’t resonating with your customers. Or that DIY house project turned into a much bigger time commitment than you originally planned as you discover your tiling skills aren’t what you’d hoped.
Emotional needs can also shift. You may be at a point in life where you need a little more stability to make it through the day. Or it might be time for a break from the hustle to enter a season of lower stress.
In these moments, check in on your intuition. Don’t give up on the end goal, but maybe it is time to re-evaluate. Understand the journey and the path is going to look a little different than you originally thought it might. No problem!
Step back and ask yourself, “If I had this information originally and were to set my priorities all over again, would I choose the same focus?”
If the answer is no, re-prioritize. Pick your new one thing to take action on. Decide what could be pushed until later or removed from your task list altogether.
Priorities change. Re-prioritizing is not giving up. It’s quitting a path that is no longer leading you to your desired destination. Stay nimble, stay adaptable, and always be ready to adjust your priorities accordingly.
#3 Do fit your priorities in the margins
Picking a priority doesn’t have to mean you’re committing hours of undivided attention to that single task. Priorities can be seen in how you use your minutes. How you use the margins between larger chunks of focus.
If you have a priority to spend more time learning, listen to a podcast on the subject while you drive between appointments.
To make headway on the novel you’ve prioritized writing, commit to writing 10 sentences before turning on the latest true crime docuseries (you know, to wind down for the night...)
Prioritizing something doesn’t mean it has to be the first or only thing you do that day. It can just mean you want more of it in your life. You can define what “more” means to you. Is it the amount of time you spend on the priority? Or the frequency? Then figure out how that equation can work seamlessly into the margins of your day.
Conclusion
Priorities can feel tricky.
It’s true, you can only ever have one priority at any given moment. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have many priorities in life.
Your number one priority might be your family. But you still need to make money and can’t play hooky from work every day to spend every moment with them. You can commit to being present when you are with your loved ones instead of having your nose in your phone watching for new IMs and emails after hours. Or you can prioritize your family but still set boundaries around your time by shutting your office door and ignoring incoming texts when spending focus time on building your side hustle.
Don’t overcomplicate how you prioritize your time.
Trust your gut. Let your priorities shift. Make your own definition of what a priority looks like to you.
Then embrace some of that calm you’ve been seeking.
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About Me
Hi, I’m Kara. I’m a former workaholic turned time-management expert. I help women stressed out in their 9-5 get more done, in less time, so they can get back in the driver’s seat and start living a life they love.
