How to Prioritize

Prioritization is a topic that is touted in thousands of books, websites and articles defining the 5 easy steps toward greater productivity; but we still fail to be a people of prioritization. The steps are “easy” but the discipline of doing it is tough to follow. We lack motivation to perform. If that’s you -- that’s the first indication that you are not focused on important work.

Rather than focus on the “how” to prioritize -- make a list, consider the time frame, secure the resources, blah, blah, blah -- it is more productive to focus on the particular “why” of the task ahead. The “why” we want to do something is far more motivational than ranking the various opportunities that face us.

Each project under consideration for the investment of our precious time should be vigorously interrogated as to its benefit to our overall productivity, well-being and purpose. It is very easy to not do something if it really isn’t important to us. Things of importance will naturally rank high on your to-do list.

We prioritize without purpose if we are not in constant view of our goals. By clearly defining in generalities what you want to accomplish at work, home or in life, you take a big step forward toward prioritizing your energy and time. If you don’t know where you are headed, prioritization efforts don’t have a standard to which to measure their importance.

Once you have a clear understanding of your purpose and desired impact, simply record the next step in getting there (GTD basics) in your capture system. If you don’t have a system to capture your next action items, start with index cards. Write a single opportunity for action on each card. Align them on the table in the order you feel best reflects your purpose. Study the order and adjust areas that don’t feel right. Once you have them in an order that makes sense for your goals, number them, pop them in your pocket -- you now have a prioritized list and a system that you can adjust to your own preference of doing work.

The bigger issue is not the order in which you do things -- it is having the discipline of not doing things that are not aligned with your purpose or mission. A mission should be motivating. Prioritization should be simple, focused on the next action item and allow intuition to evaluate your flexible steps. The discipline of following through on your list is the key to growing comfortable and dependent on your prioritization process.