Utilize Priorities as a Filter for Determining What To Do

Throughout the day, we are bombarded with items and people demanding our attention. Tasks come to us via email, calls, meeting notes and folks stopping by our offices in addition to the many, ongoing projects that need time to move towards completion. Amidst all the overwhelm, it's hard to know where to start, let alone how to get it all properly accomplished.

With all the attention on comic superheroes, it's easy to feel like Superman, Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel, but each of us is human and, therefore, can do only what's feasible within each day's constraints. Due to how many interruptions we face daily, it is realistic to plan 3 to 5 items that we intend on completing by the end of the day, leaving buffers for issues that arise.

To decide which of the many tasks on your running data dump of to-do items will make the cut for each day's must-do list, reflect on your top priorities. Which of the tasks on your list will fuel your success with your goals? Which tasks address what matters most for home, work, your community and taking care of yourself?

It's important to schedule your priorities rather than simply prioritizing whatever randomly falls onto your schedule. What you have established as your priorities should be what matters most, providing guidance for how you should best invest your limited resource of time. This allows you to proactively address the important things instead of reacting to others' priorities.

How many items are on your to-do list for today? If you're looking at a never-ending list right now, what steps can you take to focus on 3-5 items for this particular workday? What are your priorities, and how can you filter the never-ending list of what needs your attention through those to focus on what matters most?

Focus Your Task Management for Greater Success

With magazines like Woman's Day telling us to "Stand like a superhero to boost confidence", it is easy to feel like we are Superwoman or Batman and can accomplish infinite tasks each day. However, that is simply not the case... Each of us is human and, therefore, can accomplish only what is feasible within the constraints of each day. With work-life integration, we can often achieve multiple goals with a single action, but that does not change the facts: As we have only 1,440 minutes in each day, every human-being has limited abilities to get it all done each day.

While it is important to keep a running data-dump of all that must get done, save yourself the disappointment of not getting it all accomplished in one day by being realistic: Plan on no more than 3-5 must do tasks per day. Yes, it is possible that you will do much more than the 3-5 items listed; yet, there is also an equally strong chance of the phone ringing, email coming in or someone stopping by your office with an "emergency" that pulls you away from your own productivity. Leaving your must do list at only 3-5 items empowers you with buffers for unforeseen barriers to getting things done.

During each daily wrap-up, as you look at the running data-dump of all that must get done to cull together the next day's 3-5 must do items, consider all your options. What can be delegated to someone else or handled by technology? What can be deleted completely? What are the benefits of getting the item completed sooner than later? What would be the ramifications for holding off on completing the task until later? What best achieves your goals?

Highlight those 3-5 must do tasks amidst everything in your running data-dump of to-do items. Whether you choose to write them out on a 3" x 5" index card, jot them down on a Post-It note to keep visible throughout the day or set a reminder in your electronic task manager, it is important to make sure those 3-5 tasks are constantly in your top-of-mind awareness during the day.

How many items are on your to-do list for today? If you're looking at a never-ending list right now, what steps can you take to focus that on 3-5 items for this particular workday?