Prioritize Your To-Do List

Photo by Maryus via Creative Commons

Your to-do list is probably overflowing. I know mine is full this week. Then, there are all the additional things like lunch with a friend, cleaning that spare room, planning a night out, showing up at an event…We try. We try to be it all to everybody, but then we give the leftovers to the people we love most.

 

So, let’s keep it simple. What is the one thing you need to do this week to move the needle? We might laugh at that question because we feel like we have 99 things that we HAVE to do. Instead of overwhelming ourselves and feeling like we fail before we start, pick one thing that you would label a success if you complete it this week.

 

After you pick that one thing for this week, it’s time to get the rest of your to-do list into shape! Prioritizing the important over the urgent will help you win every time. Here are three tips to manage your to-do list.

 

1. Identify the important tasks each day. You may be able to do everything, but you can’t do everything well. Doing less will actually be beneficial in the long-run because you will be able to do it well instead of half-hearted.

2. Number your to-do list in order of priority. I can be tempted to do things on my list that are not the most important because they are easy. However, it leaves you frustrated at the end of the day and working all hours of the night to try to finish what needed to be done earlier. Order your list by simply writing a number next to each item. Follow the numbers. It’s that simple!

3. Focus on three to four projects/tasks that can be accomplished each day. In our “do more, be more” culture, we pile on the work. You can probably knock three or four things out of the park today. Do that.

We can try so hard to keep all the plates in the air, but this week, let’s just find the main thing we need to do and do it.

 

How do you prioritize your to-do list? Leave a note in the comments!