How to prioritise your tasks for a more successful you
One certainty in life is that time is limited. And I think we are all equal when it comes to time.
We all have 24 hours a day to dream, set goals and complete tasks that will help us achieve those goals.
Yet, it seems that some people have more time than others. Do you agree?
Well, their secret has been exposed!
Their secret is the ability to prioritise their tasks. They have the skills of managing their tasks very well.
So, if you want to be like those people, read on because I’m going to share tips on how to prioritise your tasks.
“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” Harvey MacKay
DISCLOSURE: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase using those links. See my full Disclaimer here.
Why prioritise your tasks?
When we talk about Intentional Productivity, you’ll notice some of the frequently used terms are tasks, projects and goals.
But maybe you’re wondering. Why prioritise your tasks? What about projects and goals?
I like to think of tasks, projects and goals like stairs. One builds on each other and that reach the top, you need to step on one after the other.
Goal is the top step, below that is the project and below project is the task.
Goals are made up of projects and projects are made up of tasks.
To complete a goal, you need to complete a project. And to complete a project you need to complete a task.
This means that you cannot do a goal or a project. You can only do a task. Goals and Projects are too big and too complex to do. Hence, you need to break them down into smaller chunks and these smaller chunks are your tasks.
What is the difference between a task and a project?
If you’re a person who writes a to-do list, I have a question for you.
Have you got action items that are just so hard to complete and stay on your to-do list for a long time? (I’m raising my hand because I used to have a lot of those before).
But since I learned about the difference between a task and a project I don’t seem to have a lot of those pesky to-do items anymore. Thanks to David Allen. I first learned about the difference between a task and a project from his book Getting Things Done.
What is a Task?
A Task can be completed by doing one action step. In other words, you only need to perform one action item to complete a task.
What is Project?
A Project can be completed by doing more than one action step. To finish a project you need to perform a series of action steps.
It’s important to figure out the difference between these two because if you only have “real tasks “on your to-do list, it’s easier to get them completed.
Examples of a task and a project
One example of a task is making a phone call. Or writing a grocery list.
An example of a project is planning a birthday party.
When you know that an action item is a project it means you need to break it down further. The more you break down tasks the easier to get things done.
For example: Planning a birthday party. To have a birthday plan completed there are several steps you need to do.
Planning a birthday party can be broken down further into the following tasks (example only).
- Determine what kind of party it is
- Make a list of people to invite
- Decide on the theme of the party
- Create a budget for the party
- Decide where to hold the party
Always remember, you cannot do a project. You can only do a task.
With that in mind, when you’re writing your to-do list, figure out if an item can be done by doing one action step. If not, then it’s a project. So all you need to do is break it down further until you cannot break it down anymore.
How to prioritise tasks
While you can’t add more hours to a day, you can be intentional about how you use your time. Being intentional with the use of time helps you accomplish your assigned tasks by focusing more on the essentials and ignoring the non-essentials.
This leads to a more successful you. You’ll be less stressed and more intentionally productive.
Now that you know the difference between a task and a project, here are some tips on how to prioritise your tasks.
1. Just say ‘No”
Saying no is one of the most important things you’ll learn when you embrace intentional productivity.
I learned to appreciate the value of saying no from the book The Essentialism by Greg Mckeown.
He said: that if it’s an unclear yes, then it is a clear no.
And every time we say yes we say no to something else.
So it’s important to be careful with saying yes. Remember that when we say yes to something we are saying no to something else.
Since I learned the importance of saying no, I have said no to a lot of things and I have no regrets.
2. UNPLUG
It’s a modern world and the technology and all the advanced ways of living life are unavoidable. We don’t have to resist technology completely, we just need to be intentional about it.
So, make space and time to disconnect. Unplug for an hour or so if it’s really hard for you to be of technology for longer than an hour.
Put away your phone, turn off email notifications, and get off social media even just temporarily.
Use technology with utmost intentionality. You’ll work faster, and smarter and you’ll gain the extra time to do more of what matters to you.
3. Schedule everything
This might be a little bit extreme but if you can, have days in your week where everything is scheduled.
Doing this gives you control over your agenda. It can prevent most urgencies unless they are genuinely urgent and unexpected.
The best part? You don’t have to do this every day. Do a couple of days in a week.
4. Ignore Interruptions
Unless the house is on fire or somebody is hurt, the phone notifications, (yes including the phone messages) and the knocks on your office door are not important while you’re focusing on your most important tasks.
We live in a 2 bedroom apartment and there are 4 people in my household. I don’t have an office so my Creativity Zone (and my work from home station) is in one corner of our Lounge Room.
But my family knows the importance of focus work. Even my 6 years old daughter knows the value of focus.
So when I have my headset on, I’m not available unless someone is dying.
It’s funny because my kids and my husband have a joke. When I’m on focus mode their code is “Mummy’s F1 helmet is on”
I appreciate that my kids and husband are so supportive of what I do so even though we are sharing space I can still focus when I need to.
5. Set a scheduled time for your emails
Emails can be considered time-suckers.
If for some reason you developed a habit of checking your emails every hour or so, maybe it’s time to consider scheduling once or twice a day.
It’s because, if you keep on checking your emails too often, it would be hard not to react to every email you receive…
Try and schedule time for your emails. Even better if you can set a reasonable time limit.
That way you’re more intentional rather than reactive when you deal with your emails.]
6. Delegate or outsource
Delegate or outsource where possible and if your budget allows.
Whether it’s household chores or business tasks, delegating them can be a good option if you want to focus on higher-level tasks.
I’m a solopreneur at the moment so I’m not outsourcing anything yet but when it comes to household chores I’ve learned to delegate a lot. It’s something I thought I wouldn’t do.
I’m so lucky my husband is always hands-on with household chores. The only thing I cannot delegate is cooking because I love cooking.
7. Lower your standards
I’m talking about standards on household chores. For you it may be something else. Something you stress about all the time but realised now that it’s not that bad at all if you let go.
I used to be pedantic with household chores but not anymore. For you maybe it’s another area that is less important.
My family and health are always going to be my top priorities. But blogging comes first over household chores. Not all the time, because I get stressed when my household gets too messy. However, on ordinary days, as long as I’m on top of laundry, dishes and cooking I’m good. I can ignore everything else.
One of my friends told me before: “the world is not going to come crashing down if you leave the dishes unwashed E”.
And I took that to heart.
Cleaning is now done in pockets of time except for quarterly deep cleaning.
Dishes are not messing up with my head like it did before. We don’t have a dishwasher anymore so I wash the dishes after every meal and R puts them away when dried. It works for us. Kids are trained not to leave the dishes anywhere so that’s a plus.
All that to say that since I stopped being pedantic with household chores, I have created extra time to create and write for my blog.
8. Practice the 2-minute rule
Aim to do small tasks completely. Avoid half-jobs. I learned this from my Father in law who’s super neat all the time.
For example, when you get your mail, deal with it immediately.
Trash it if it’s not important and put it in your action file if it requires action.
If it takes less than 2 minutes to complete, do it. Put it in the next action list and schedule it later if it will take more than 2 minutes to finish.
Doing small tasks regularly means they don’t pile up. It helps you focus on bigger and high-impact tasks.
9. Reflect as often as possible
Reflection doesn’t have to take too much of your time.
It could be a few seconds or a few minutes. You just need to establish some kind of awareness during the day. If the word reflection is too full-on for you, you can just set an intention in the morning. Either write it down or have it in your mind and keep it during the day.
This will help you ensure that you have your priorities in order.
Knowing your intention for the day and spending a few minutes here and there for introspection gives you the power to take control of your actions and thoughts.
That way you can let go of what you can’t control and you can keep a grip on what you can control.
10. Be Flexible
Remember to create space and a sense of flexibility.
Create your space according to your preference. Work where you feel most productive and inspired. It can be in an office, on a couch, in the kitchen, at the cafe or in the park. You decide the best space for you to work.
Another space to consider is space between your schedule.
I know that schedule and time-limit can be intimidating. They sound limiting and restricting. But if you do it where it makes sense to you, you’ll be able to prioritise tasks better. It can help you create a sense of flexibility and wiggle room.
Use technology to make things easier. Automate what you can automate.
Conclusion
There you go. You’ve got the 10 ideas on how you can prioritise your tasks. I encourage you to implement one or two as soon as you finish reading this post.
To recap:
- Just say “no”
- Unplug
- Schedule everything
- Ignore interruptions
- Set scheduled times for emails
- Delegate or outsource
- Lower your standards
- Practise the 2 minute rule
- Reflect as often as possible
- Be flexible
Related Posts:
How to be intentional with time
Intentional Productivity: 9 tips to achieving success in life
