(Or…5 Steps To Prioritizing Tasks)
If your life is anything like mine, it’s fast-paced and busy.As we progress in our professional lives and as we age (not that I’d know about that), we quickly come to realize that one of the most valuable resources in our lives is time. It’s something we need to make the most of while we still have it.If I only had more time. Where did the time go?When you get really busy, winging it is no longer effective. Here are some task prioritizing tips that help me make sure I’m getting all my important tasks done. Give it a try.
#1
Identify your top two priorities each day and don’t stop working until you’ve done them.
This starts the night before. Prior to calling it a day and start cracking open the brewski’s, make a list of things you need to get done tomorrow.
Ask yourself which two of those things would have the most impact on your bottom line. Those are the ones to attack first thing in the morning!
#2
It doesn’t matter how – but record your to-do’s.
Record your tasks somewhere. It doesn’t matter if you’re a pen and paper person, a spreadsheet fan, an iPhone calendar addict – or a post-it note junkie. What is important is that you record the tasks you need to accomplish.
Common sense? Sure – but we all know plenty of people who don’t do this. You should.
#3
Eat The Frog: Start with the most difficult or unappealing task first.
We all have those things we just hate doing. You know…the tasks that give you that little twisted up feeling in your stomach. The best way to deal with those ugly, nasty tasks is to do them first.
Zig Ziglar says, “If you’ve got to eat a frog, sitting around looking at it doesn’t make it any better.” Eat the frog. Once those tasks are out of the way, everything else seems easy by comparison. Most people do the opposite, so they wind up dealing with that big, ugly frog staring them in the face at the end of the day.
Fact: Frogs get uglier after quitting time.
#4
Tackle The Rest Of The List
Your game plan was to identify your top two priorities for the day that you are going to get done come hell or high water. You did the worst one first (ate the frog) and now it’s time to tackle number two. If it takes until dark to do it, make sure it gets done.
Then, you can go on to three…and four…and five. Save the little “busy work” items for the end of the day – or non-prime selling times. Emails and notes can be written any time. Get them done, but fill your prime contact time with prime money earning activities.
#5
Each Night, Rotate and refresh The List
Just like in #1, at the end of your work day take five minutes to review what you accomplished. List the new tasks that have sprung up – and make your new priority list for your new day tomorrow. There’s always another frog.Time management isn’t complex, but it does take a good amount of discipline. When you start tacking the difficult tasks first each morning, you’ll notice how much easier the rest of your day seems and how much more time you have.