Strengthen Your Prioritization Muscles
“Make a to-do list, plan your daily tasks and break down your goals into smaller goals.”
These are the most common things we hear on a daily basis when we’re behind with our tasks. However, one thing is certain, “Creating a priority list is easier said than done.”
A manager and even employees’ biggest challenge is accurately prioritizing daily basis tasks. Even if you have the best project management software on the planet, you’re the one who submits information into the tool, so things can always go sideways and in the end, it is you who is accountable for the end results. Prioritization and planning is an ongoing process, the more you practice the better you get at it.
Today we are going to share some exercises on how to strengthen your prioritization muscles and keep them in shape.
Be accountable for your distractions: Having distractions throughout your day is normal, whether you have shifted focus to other tasks, or is responding to a coworker. You might also need breaks during the day to relax and refocus. When you accept that distractions will happen, you can have an easier time including them in your schedule.
*Try scheduling your breaks, such as a 10-minute coffee break mid-morning and a 15-minute walk late in the afternoon.
Start automating: With the advancements happening in technology, there are many productivity tools available, that can help you prioritize and stay on track with your tasks. Downloading an application on your computer to keep track of your time on a specific task, allows you to see how efficiently you’re working O, helps you track your work/task’s efficiency.You could also use a timer to help you focus on tasks and set a time for when you want to take a break.
Multitasking is not for everyone: Multitasking sounds easy when aiming to accomplish more, however, one-task-focus has proven to give better outcomes. This strategy ensures your full attention, efficiency and completion for that specific assignment before moving forward to the next listed one. You can have a higher chance of submitting quality work when you are not distracted by other tasks.
Identify urgent vs. important: Check and see if you have tasks that need immediate attention. Tasks that do not meet their deadline leads to serious and negative consequences. We’re talking about work that if not completed by the end of the day or in the next several hours, can lead to serious negative consequences such as missed client deadlines, missed publication or release deadlines, and so on. Check to see if there are any high-priority dependencies that rely on you, finishing a piece of work and start working on it NOW.
Start off with the lengthier tasks: If you have tasks that seem to tie for priority standings, start on whichever one you think will take the most effort to complete. Productivity experts suggest the tactics of starting the lengthier tasks first and narrow down as completion becomes shorter and easier. But, if you feel like you can’t focus on your bigger projects finishing the shorter tasks, just go with your gut feeling and do what sits right with you. Sometimes people get the motivation by completing small tasks, before diving into deep waters.
Know when to cut it: Obviously, you want to accomplish all your duties but sometimes it happens that you can’t complete your whole task list of the day. After prioritizing your tasks and looking at your estimates, cut the remaining tasks from your list, and focus to complete them on time. Sometimes it's hard to say no, but do NOT take any more tasks that won't get your full attention, otherwise, you’ll create false expectations, and you’ll constantly feel as if you’re falling behind.
It is only with consistent training that you can develop certain skills. We suggest you start with some light stretches by writing down what you want to accomplish. Discuss with your team about their ways of working and after that, go hard prioritization muscles with the steps we mentioned above. Make this known by your team and so you will also avoid distractions and multitasking. As Stephen Covey once said:” The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities”.
Looking for more ways to improve your team’s efficiency? Check out this article for tips on working remotely.
