THE POWER OF PRIORITISING
Whether you're a busy professional, a student with deadlines looming, or a biz owner juggling multiple projects, the art of time management is crucial for success.
Every night before I go to bed I note down my TOP 3 priorities for the next morning. Then late morning/early afternoon I note down 3 more for the afternoon/night. (Of course I always have approximately 5,675 things on my daily to-do list - but only 3 get the priority spots each time.)
I originally started doing this just as a way to clear my head and reduce the amount of things I would forget to do in a day. Then it became a tactical way to tackle my time management and prioritise tasks. If I crossed those 3 tasks off every morning and night then I considered the day a success, everything else beyond that was a bonus.
When you tackle your top priorities head-on, several magical things happen:
Focus Sharpens: By zeroing in on your most critical tasks, you eliminate distractions and sharpen your focus. Instead of scattering your energy across various activities and worrying about everything at once, you channel it into the tasks that truly matter, amplifying your productivity.
Momentum Builds: Completing high-priority tasks creates a sense of accomplishment that fuels your momentum. As you tick off items from your list, you get a nice little dopamine hit and the confidence and motivation to tackle even more tasks for the day.
Stress Reduces: Procrastination breeds anxiety like nothing else. But when you tackle your top priorities, you kick procrastination to the kerb and reduce stress levels. With each completed task, you feel lighter, freer, and more in control of your workload. Hallelujah!
Time Expands: Strange but true – when you prioritise your top tasks, time seems to expand. Suddenly, you find yourself with more breathing room in your schedule, enabling you to allocate time to other important areas of your life, whether it's self-care, hobbies, or spending quality time with loved ones.
So, how can you master the art of prioritising your top tasks?
Start by identifying your most important objectives. What are the key goals you want to achieve today, this week, or this month? Once you've pinpointed these priorities, break them down into manageable tasks and schedule them into your calendar or to-do list (or #controlfreak diary). Scheduling TASKS not projects into your calendar and being specific means you know exactly what to start working on when you sit down at your desk.
Next, fight the urge to procrastinate. Fight. It. Hard. When you feel the temptation to put off a priority task, remind yourself they are your absolute non-negotiables. It helps to create rituals around your productive times of day - set up some 40 minute playlists and promise yourself a 20 minute break when the playlist finishes.
Productivity isn't about doing more; it's about doing what matters most. By making a habit of prioritising your top tasks, you’ll have a clearer head and more flexibility with the rest of your time. Sounds pretty great, right?