Being able to prioritise those tasks and projects that add the greatest value is difficult and does not come to most people naturally. It requires both awareness and focus. At a practical level, it means scheduling regular time to review and define priorities, rather than simply moving into the next task that comes immediately to mind or reacting to the next request that appears on your email.
Many of us have become addicted, unknowingly, to ‘busyness’. We mistake busyness for productivity, asking ourselves “What’s next?” far more than “Why this?”
It’s only when we take time out and reflect, saying no to the next urgent task, that we re able to find the space to review, assess, and make sense of what we’ve just experienced. Below are three simple tips that will help you reprioritise:
1. Make space and put time in your diary for anything that feels important but not urgent. If it is urgent, you are likely to get it done despite the time pressures. If it’s something you can delay, you probably will especially if it’s challenging.
2. Your final activity before leaving work at the end of the day is to allow at least 15 to 20 minutes to reflect on what’s happened that day, and to decide the most important tasks you want to accomplish the next day. Your subconscious will work on this overnight, but importantly you get closure on your work day.
3. At the start of your work day do the most important thing on your list first for up to 90 minutes. If possible, keep your door closed, your email turned off and your phone on silent. Focus.
