Organizing Your Time: Prioritizing

If you struggle with organizing your time so that you are able to meet personal and/or professional demands, learning to prioritize is a critical skill. This month 's newsletter will help you to develop or refine this crucial time organizing skill.

Quote: As you plan you re always prioritizing whether you realize it or not. When you say, I don t have time to do this, you re really saying, I choose to do something else instead. Consequently, understanding what criteria to use when you make your choices is a critical factor in setting priorities. Sunny Schlenger

Priority, Which Priority?

Deciding your priorities can be a difficult task, especially when everything seems to be of utmost importance. First, you need to decide your priority categories . You can name your priorities in a way that reminds you of their true significance. You can designate them as

High, medium, low

Numbers, letters or colors

Important & urgent, Important but not urgent, Urgent but not important

Creative labels such as I will be dead at the end of the day if I don t finish , Things will be easier if I complete , or whatever verbiage works for you

Second, remember that what is urgent to others may not be your top priority. In such cases, delegating, renegotiating, or saying no are critical skills to helping you prioritize. Third, consider that tasks that are really important are those that relate to your personal mission, vision, and values and to your professional objectives as applicable. Some questions you may want to ask yourself are

Will completing this task matter in 1-2 years?

Will not finishing this task have grave consequences for me or others?

Is this item a piece of a larger job that is crucial?

Contrary to popular belief, not all tasks can be top priority. Yes, you have a job to do (personal or professional), however if you want to experience a higher quality of life, you must be able to determine what is truly important to you.

Related Topics :: Time Management