Sep 30 2010

How do you prioritize?

It’s a daily struggle for many of us. What do I focus on first?

Is it the squeaky wheel who keeps asking for an unimportant email? Is it my boss’ project?

20% of your activities will account for 80 percent of your success (The Pareto Principle). Hence, if you have 100 tasks in your task list, probably about 20 of those will be the key ones to focus on. So, how do we know which get our focus?Each day you are delegated or in some way compile tasks from yourself, coworkers, clients and others. They fall into one of four categories (or quadrants) as described by Stephen Covey in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

  • QI – Important and Urgent
  • QII – Important but Not Urgent
  • QIII – Not Important but Urgent
  • QIV – Not Important and Not Urgent

It’s great (and will help your task management) if you stay in the QI and QII quadrants. If you find you have a lot of QIII and QIV tasks, it’s a symptom of a few things: poor delegation, struggling time management, boredom, clear understanding of priorities–to name a few.

While that doesn’t help you with task management, I hope the following will.

Try an experiment for me. For the next week,  set aside the first 10 minutes of your day for a task prioritization exercise.

Break your tasks into three (3) priority categories:

  • A = vital to get to today (or high)
  • B = important to get to today (or medium)
  • C = nice to get to today, but can wait until tomorrow (or low)

Once you label all of your tasks with A, B or C, then assign a priority number (1 through 5–no more than 5!) to each of them. For example, A1 would be the most important thing that needs to get done that day and should be done first. C5 would be the lowest priority and may not get completed until the following day.

Most people tend to select the easiest or fastest tasks to complete in a day, which causes a backup of the more time intensive or difficult tasks. We all do this inherently and this process forces out of those habits.

The work model most of us subscribe to:  work as many hours as it takes to get a whole bunch of things done. Not efficient.

There’s a time management principle that says we will get things done in the time we are given. How much time do you typically set for yourself to get something done?
As you build your daily calendar and task list, I recommend blocking out time for:
  • Ongoing daily tasks (1 hour)
  • HOLD time to complete tasks (2 to 3 hours)
  • Update and prioritize your task list (10 to 15 minutes)
Of course there will be unexpected priorities that challenge us. Working in communications, how could there NOT be? Putting these habits in place will help you to get the most important things done even in the midst of a challenging career.
Tips? Suggestions? Share your advice with us.

27 Comments on this post

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  1. Heather Whaling said:

    Sarah, I just started getting into the whole Covey quadrant approach. After identifying my various roles, I now set aside time every Sunday to schedule those most important tasks that help me achieve my goals for each role. I’m trying to be better about living a more Quadrant II lifestyle. It’s a challenge, but in the month or so that I’ve been working at it, I’m amazed how much of a difference it makes. I’m more efficient, plus I’m getting projects (personal and professional) done earlier instead of always bumping up against deadlines … and I’m allocate more time on research and helping my team continue to grow/learn. I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I’m heading in the right direct. (At least, I hope!) Thanks for this post – I’m sure it will be a huge help …

    Heather
    @prTini

    September 30th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
  2. PRsarahevans said:

    Heather – I love that you’re doing this! Honestly these are habits I have to constantly focus on. If left to my own devices it would be dangerous. It’s important for me to help create good habits. I don’t subscribe to all things 7 Habits, but this is something I learned six or seven years ago that keeps me on top of my game. Let me know what else you learn from your experience!

    September 30th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
  3. wordgeist said:

    this are great way to prioritize your daily task

    October 1st, 2010 at 12:58 pm
  4. Laptop Briefcase said:

    Yes prioritization is a constant struggle. I admit that it is one of my weak points. I have daily tasks that I try to work on, but the rest of my time is not well managed. I should really try some of these prioritization techniques that you’ve mentioned.

    October 1st, 2010 at 1:06 pm
  5. Computer Tips Tricks said:

    Finishing a task is considered effective. Finishing a task with the least time and effort is considered efficient. We should always try to achieve both.

    October 1st, 2010 at 2:48 pm
  6. Liposuction said:

    How easily you tackle a solid problem. Really superb way of prioritization. I admire those writers who share the best of their knowledge in writing such articles. Keep up the good work and continue inspiring readers.Thank you so much.

    October 2nd, 2010 at 2:46 pm
  7. Essay said:

    Updating and measuring our progress keeps us on the on the track. Which is essential to achieve our goal in a given period of time.

    October 2nd, 2010 at 4:04 pm
  8. Locksmith Melbourne said:

    Well I prioritize what my wife tells me too lol..

    October 3rd, 2010 at 12:31 am
  9. bikram said:

    I never though about this in this way. I going to try to implement starting next week

    October 3rd, 2010 at 12:37 am
  10. kathleen bracken said:

    Funny how sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and the hardest to see! I have struggled with prioritizing but you’ve helped me see a technique that is simple, not necessarily easy, to put into use…reminds me of how one approaches an essay by starting with an outline. Good stuff, thanks!

    October 3rd, 2010 at 2:07 pm
  11. Laptop Briefcase said:

    @Computer Tips: it’s not just about finishing a task though. Some tasks may take a long time and needs to be broken up over several days. In some cases, those tasks might be more important than shorter tasks which can be completed quickly.

    October 4th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
  12. Android tablet said:

    I did the 7 habit planning for a time and admit I found the weekly planning better than the task prioritisation. It just took a little bit to long and the priorities just didn’t get done.

    I changed to the GTD method, which I found better from a time management perspective.

    October 5th, 2010 at 6:58 am
  13. acai said:

    Nice and informative post really. I have struggled with prioritizing but you’ve helped me see a technique that is simple, not necessarily easy, to put into use…reminds me of how one approaches an essay by starting with an outline. Good stuff, thanks! Keep blogging..

    October 5th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
  14. car battery said:

    Prioritization and procrastination almost go hand in hand, with the latter being the biggest obstacle to the former. I make a daily plan but often I find myself procrastinating on a particular task and that puts the rest of the tasks behind, ending up in either overtime to finish all the jobs or more burden for the following day. :(

    October 7th, 2010 at 5:06 am
  15. tires said:

    I personally struggle with prioritizing my priorities, the main part that I struggle with is not the scheduling of my time or figuring out what’s important… but it’s the action aspect that I often struggle with. Often times I will procrastinate and do what I am most comfortable with and avoid the other tedious tasks all together. Your style management and prioritizing method is pretty good Sarah but for me I gotta work on that action aspect!

    Till then,

    Jean

    October 7th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
  16. Android tablet said:

    @Jean: I think that is what most people have a problem :)
    I bought this supposedly really good procrastination book, but still haven’t read it (talking about procrastination).
    Did you ever look at the 4h work week book? He has a really good prioritisation process. Pretend you could only work 2h a day – what 2 most important tasks would you do?

    October 8th, 2010 at 5:27 am
  17. sell textbooks said:

    It is important to know what HAS to be done first thing, since you might not get done what is necessary.

    October 8th, 2010 at 11:27 am
  18. Digitürk said:

    Finishing a task is considered effective..Thanks!

    October 8th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
  19. tires said:

    @Android, thanks for the reply, I guess its comforting to know that I am not alot… but still isn’t good, kinda of weird that way huh? I guess I will have to try and take a look at that book for sure!

    Till then,

    Jean

    October 10th, 2010 at 12:47 am
  20. car battery said:

    The best way to deal with it is to just set aside an hour or two a day just for doing the tasks you hate the most. Just like how people set time in the day aside for things like working out or jogging, etc. That way, you can savor the rest of the time doing stuff that’s more comfortable and not have to prolong your procrastination periods.

    October 11th, 2010 at 12:07 am
  21. Web Development said:

    If you set the work or activities based on prioritize that helps to which one is more important so, you can easily concentrate on that.

    October 11th, 2010 at 4:37 am
  22. Cannes property said:

    nice post and nice work admin at your blog. every post of your blog is good and i learned a lot of from your blog.

    October 11th, 2010 at 6:04 am
  23. bikram said:

    @sell textbooks, you are right but knowing what needs to be done is another way to prioritize your task

    October 11th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
  24. bikram said:

    @sell textbooks, @bikram, I think you need to plan and short and long term

    October 11th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
  25. Computer Tips Tricks said:

    No matter how beauty is my schedule and how hard I try. I will definitely miss out something.

    October 12th, 2010 at 10:20 am
  26. textbook rental said:

    Prioritization is so key to anyone’s success. I would say that before you can prioritize though, you need to organize! If you’re not organized, you can’t prioritize.

    October 12th, 2010 at 11:56 am
  27. Digitürk said:

    If you set the work or activities based on prioritize that helps to which one is more important so, you can easily concentrate on that…
    Thanks Thanks Thanks!

    October 14th, 2010 at 4:36 am