Prioritizing tasks how to#

Your Master List helps you understand how to prioritize all your tasks. Separate the urgent from the important with the Eisenhower Matrix When your daily tasks are being pulled from a larger list you can make sure youвЂ™re always working on meaningful things. This prioritization method also helps combat the Completion Bias-our tendency to focus on finishing small tasks rather than working on larger, more complex ones. This way, your daily priorities are always aligned with your bigger goals. Your weekly list pulls from your monthly list. Working off your Master List, start prioritizing tasks by monthly, weekly, and daily goals.ДЄs productivity consultant Brian Tracy explains, your monthly list pulls from your master list. And the long-term goals that make you feel accomplished and empowered. The projects that need to be worked on this week or month. You have the tasks that need to be done today. Once you have your Master List created, youвЂ™ll quickly notice that different tasks deserve different levels of attention. The tool you use to store these tasks doesnвЂ™t matter (it could be as simple as a piece of paper or as complex as a project management tool) as long as itвЂ™s easily accessible and easily updated when new priorities come along. One great way to do this is David AllenвЂ™s Get Things Done (GTD) methodology-a 5-step process we wrote an in-depth guide to here. You want to get every possible thing that pulls at your attention out of your head and into a doc.

Instead, start by getting everything down and organized in a Master List. ItвЂ™s impossible to prioritize your tasks if theyвЂ™re all swimming around in your head.

Prioritize your most important work during your most productive hours.

Use Time Multipliers to make the most of your daily hours.

be flexible enough to change your mind and drop priorities)

Be aware of the sunk cost fallacy when choosing what deserves your time (i.e.

Cut out вЂњgood enoughвЂќ goals with Warren BuffettвЂ™s 2-list strategy.

Set a productive tone for the day by вЂњEating the frogвЂќ.

Separate tasks with similar priorities using the ABCDE method.

Rank your daily tasks by their true priority with the Ivy Lee Method.

Separate the urgent from the important tasks with the Eisenhower Matrix.

Capture everything on a Master List and then break it down by monthly, weekly, and daily goals.

How to prioritize your tasks (and your time) In this guide, weвЂ™ve collected the best strategies on how to prioritize your daily tasks, optimize your time, and focus on the work that matters most. When priorities are piling up, you need a clear system in place to take you from overwhelmed to under control. Know what tasks need to be done and rank them by importance), itвЂ™s far from a simple exercise. At least not right away.Д«ut while the elements of prioritizing your work are simple (i.e. Once you know how to prioritize your tasks and your time, you realize that much of the work that felt urgent doesnвЂ™t really need your attention. Knowing your priorities reduces stress, helps you focus and ignore FOMO, can improve productivity and time management, and even help with work-life balance as you create better boundaries for your workday. However, mastering prioritization can change your life. With more tasks to do, non-stop emails, and higher expectations, deciding what deserves your attention can quickly become overwhelming. One of the oldest workplace struggles is knowing how to prioritize your work.

Prioritizing tasks