Picture it: you’re at your desk and you have a specific project you want to work on. However, as you get started, you get an email from your boss asking you to get something done ASAP. A little while later, you remember there’s a task that’s due tomorrow that you haven’t gotten started on, and, as you context switch to that, you get a message on Slack from someone looking for a report they could have sworn you had shared with them.
This happens to the best of us. The workday is often filled with competing priorities that all demand attention. The hard part is choosing where to put your focus first.
In this article, we’re sharing five tips for how to best prioritize your tasks when things get busy. Take a look and leverage the ones that make the most sense to you — what works and what doesn’t will depend on your working style and preferences.
1. Start with a list
Create a clear list of everything you need to do. One thing that can be helpful is to have a longer list that includes all your short-, medium-, and long-term tasks, and then create a daily list that pulls from that.
Your daily task list may fluctuate over the course of a given workday — remember when your boss made that quick request? — so be ready to change and annotate it as needed. Yes, it’s possible that some of your tasks will move from today’s list to tomorrow’s, and that’s OK. Prioritizing your tasks will help with understanding which tasks can be bumped down the list, and which ones need to be completed first.
2. Choose the right tool to manage your tasks
Do you keep your task lists on paper? Or do you prefer a project management tool? What about a Kanban board? Whether you’re a visual person or keep everything in your head, pick the tool that will help you the most in getting things done. The best part of some project management tools or digital to-do lists is being able to tick them off. Other benefits include easily moving tasks from one day to another, and having a visual representation of how you’re allocating your time. Tools like Asana, Notion, and Trello all have free versions you can use individually.
3. Determine how important each task is
A lot of us are driven by urgency. If we hear that a task needs to be done NOW, then we’ll drop what we’re doing in order to address it. However, urgency is only one assessment criteria. You should also consider how important or essential a task is when it comes to your team’s goals, business priorities, or personal development.
A simple matrix can help here:
- If the task is urgent and important, that’s the highest priority. Do the task.
- If it’s urgent, but not important, it can either be delegated or held off until a more important task is addressed.
- If it’s not urgent, but important, schedule the task and hold time in your calendar to get it done.
- Lastly, if it’s not urgent, and not important, that’s a task that can be deprioritized.
4. Address important, high-effort tasks first
It’s easy to look at a to-do list and want to start with the short, easy-to-do tasks first. The problem with this is that as you do these smaller tasks, you might have a few others added on during the day that get in the way of your bigger projects. This is why we suggest starting with the more important, higher-effort tasks first.
Sometimes called “eating the frog,” this approach helps you stay productive and on time with bigger initiatives, and then you can use the satisfaction you get from completing the big task to work on the smaller ones.
5. Protect your time
If you have a number of high-priority tasks on your plate, then you are more than justified to set time aside to get those tasks done. Block out time in your calendar. Turn off notifications on your internal messaging system and set a status message letting people know when you’ll be back online. Carve out a half hour in your day where you’ll respond to emails and other comms. This will enable you to prioritize the tasks that need doing while letting less important queries and requests wait until you have the time.
More and more, as we navigate inflation and unstable economic prospects, teams are being asked to do more with less. Knowing how to prioritize tasks is therefore extremely valuable for individuals and teams that want to remain efficient and effective within their organization.
Want more best practices for how to make the most of your work day? Check out our insights on the blog.
