{"id":2157,"date":"2022-12-09T15:56:05","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T15:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/project.co\/?p=2157"},"modified":"2024-07-09T10:04:01","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T10:04:01","slug":"how-to-prioritize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/project.co\/how-to-prioritize\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prioritize Work Like a Pro When EVERYTHING is Important"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last updated on 19th June 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you get home after a long hard day at work, it\u2019s really easy to work out your priorities. Some family time, making a healthy dinner or heading to a gym class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because you know<\/em> that\u2019s what\u2019s important to you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when it comes to your workday, it\u2019s hard to distinguish because everything seems equally important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve all been there. You draw up a task list for the day – a dozen deliverables, actions and meetings. And every one of them seems to be important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll run through exactly how to prioritize like a pro when EVERYTHING is important!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different prioritising methods<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Master List<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This method begins with a master list, which is then broken down into smaller categories such as monthly, weekly and daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prioritisation happens on different levels. You\u2019ve got stuff that needs doing today, other things that need to be done by the end of the week and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start by making a master list on a document, app, or piece of paper where every current and future task can be stored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have all your tasks together, break them down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your monthly list pulls from your master list, your weekly list pulls from your monthly list (you get the idea!) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This helps you to focus on your daily priorities and know they\u2019re aligned with your bigger goals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eisenhower Matrix<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This strategy separates the urgent <\/em>from the important<\/em>. In basic terms, urgent tasks are things you feel like you need to react to right away, like emails, phone calls or texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While important tasks are ones that contribute to your long-term mission, values, and goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When looking at the tasks you\u2019ve got to do, they should fit into one of the following quadrants:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n Urgent and Important: <\/strong>Do these tasks as soon as possible.
Important, but not urgent:<\/strong> Decide when you\u2019ll do these and schedule it.
Urgent, but not important: <\/strong>Delegate these tasks to someone else.
Neither urgent nor important:<\/strong> Drop these from your schedule as soon as possible.\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Sorting your tasks into these categories will help you to identify what is actually important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ivy Lee Method<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The idea of this method is to rank your workload by its true priority. Because even with our best efforts, we sometimes end up with a massive to-do list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Ivy Lee Method\u2019 actually begins at the very end of your working day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It works like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. At the end of each workday, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the next one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Repeat this process every working day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Project management prioritising tips<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Assess how much you can handle<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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    This doesn\u2019t have to just apply to yourself, think about how much your team can handle or your company as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Work out the approach that will work best. Is it starting with all the big tasks first and finishing up with the fiddly bits, or the other way round?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Try alternating big projects with small ones when possible to keep your team fresh and motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On Project.co<\/a>, you can look at your project tasks in a number of views, including a task list, calendar view, schedule view and kanban view<\/a>. This can really help when you\u2019re working out how many tasks you can handle at one time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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