What are the best ways to prioritize tasks when you have too much to do?

1. Divide tasks into four categories: Urgent and Important, Important but Not Urgent, Urgent but Not Important, and Neither Urgent nor Important. Focus on the important tasks first. 2.Start with tasks that have the nearest deadlines to prevent last-minute rushes. 3.Determine which tasks will have the most significant impact on your goals, projects, or overall well-being. 4. Choose your top three most important tasks for the day and focus on completing those before moving on to less critical items. 5. Allocate specific blocks of time for different tasks. 6. Assign a priority level (e.g., High, Medium, Low) to each task and tackle the high-priority ones first. 8. If possible, delegate tasks to others. 9. Review your task list time to time.

I employ a straightforward model with executives, serving as both a time management tool and a developmental framework for their team. "The Decision Tree" categorizes all events, tasks, processes, and projects within a domain into 4 buckets: Leaf decisions: Team members make decisions and inform the executive during the next meeting. Branch decisions: Team members make decisions and notify the executive within 24-48 hours. Trunk decisions: Team members align the proposed course of action with the executive before implementing. Root decisions: The executive makes the decision, given its significant impact on strategy, finances, reputation. This exercise provides clarity ref/ priorities and identifies tasks that can be delegated.

We all have ever increasing workloads and discussions around prioritisation can often be frustrating. I agree that a well ordered to do list is useful but sometimes prioritisation is more an issue of needing a new perspective. I always set myself a goal of 1 or 2 things to achieve that day and throw in a task I’m going to enjoy. The difference is I’m then more positive, more motivated and achieve more on the list. Another tip that works for me is asking reflective questions…….who is going to benefit from this? Is it really necessary?……… and can I delegate and support a member of my team to thrive by coaching and supporting them to do it. Yes it takes time but the long term rewards are worth it and improves team performance no end.

Prioritizing tasks is essential for effective time management. It involves evaluating your workload and distinguishing between urgent, important, and optional tasks. Urgent tasks demand immediate attention due to deadlines or consequences. Important tasks align with long-term goals and values. Optional tasks, while nice, lack essential impact. Employing a matrix categorizes tasks into four quadrants, aiding in prioritization: urgent and important, urgent but unimportant, important but not urgent, and neither urgent nor important. This visual approach guides efficient allocation of time and resources to maximize productivity and goal attainment.

Before task prioritization, please be sure to understand your essence. The Gallup Strength test identifies Discipline talents for systematic work. Try the critical path method if it's outside your top 10. Focus on tasks impacting project duration and avoid delaying others, like holding the ball in football.

Productivity = know when and what to stop doing. It's about achieving the result with a minimum effort. Here's how I apply it to my to do list: 1/ Write your goal 2/ Assess: write your 10 key tasks > circle 2 driving your results (primary) > circle 2 you can't get rid of (secondary) 3/ Declutter: look at the 6 remaining > if they have value, ask who can help/how to automate > if they have no value, delete all related tasks on your list and your calendar 4/ Optimize: look at your calendar > primary tasks - add time blocks - 80% of your work > secondary tasks - leave - 20% of your work

The 80/20 rule, or Pareto principle, reveals that 80% of results stem from 20% of efforts. Prioritization is key: focus on tasks with the highest impact and delegate or eliminate less vital ones. Begin by identifying key outcomes and the tasks to attain them. Rank tasks by importance and urgency, then select the top 20% responsible for 80% of results. These are your priority tasks; tackle them first to optimize productivity and goal achievement.

How do you choose the right task? 💡 Prioritize the task that will make your life easier next week and every week thereafter. This is a great way to play offense on your list of to-do's, rather than feeling like you're always on the defense. Examples: task automation, agenda templates, email filters

Delving further into the 80/20 rule, consider the Pareto principle: 1% effort yields 50% results. Completing the most crucial task first makes handling the rest much easier. If someone in your team possesses Gallup Maximizer talent, utilize their prioritization skills.

The "problem" with 80/20 is that you have to say no to perfectionism. Let's say you have 5 hours to finish a task. After one hour of working on your task you normally have 80% of your result ready. What happens in the remaining 4 hours is only worth of 20% of the desired outcome. If 80% is enough - why spend 4 precious hours on the last 20%? Because you want to impress your boss. Or your client. Or your co-worker. In most cases this is just wasted time. Forget everything I just wrote if you are an engineer and build bridges. Please go for the 100% and work those 5 hours - thank you!

Using a Kanban board can help apply the Eisenhower method more visibly. Create a board with 4 columns: 1. Important & Urgent 2. Important & Not Urgent 3. Not Important & Urgent 4. Not Important & Not Urgent Delete anything in column 4 Delegate anything in column 3 Put column 2 on your calendar Get to work on column 1 Update as needed!

I have been following Eisenhower method of prioritizing work for some time now and have found it effective in mapping out tasks and identifying those that I may be incorrectly prioritizing. So a definite try for those firefighting multiple deliveries most of the times. [My fourth quardrant (not important- not urgent ones) however, seems to be pretty empty 😀]

The Eisenhower method offers a structured approach to task prioritization, combining importance and urgency. It's akin to the quadrant matrix but assigns specific actions for each quadrant. Urgent and important tasks should be tackled immediately. Urgent but unimportant tasks can be delegated or outsourced. Important but non-urgent tasks should be scheduled or assigned a deadline. Tasks that are neither urgent nor important can be deleted or ignored, allowing for optimal time management and efficiency.

Only some people can quickly adopt specific techniques. It demands internal resources to learn and establish them as habits. At the very least, tasks can be categorized as flexible or rigid. Any task on the critical path is considered severe.

If you deal with tasks that concern stakeholders / clients, you have to be pretty sure what is important or urgent for them. Let them define these attributes so you can place the tasks right in their boxes. In various cases it happened to me that I had no clarity about it and filled the matrix incorrectly. Not pretty...

Be realistic: do you deal with tasks you have dealt with in the past and know how long it will take to tackle them? Plan with little time flexibility and get stuff done. In all other cases: only plan 70% of the time available and leave slack to deal with unexpected occurrences.

Remember to approach all projects with a realistic mindset. It's great to have high achieving goals but it's best to remain realistic with a hint of optimism.

In recent decades, the world has become less predictable. Developing mental flexibility is crucial. Start by accepting that all plans can change due to factors beyond your control. Appointments might get canceled unexpectedly. Instead of getting upset, learn to react positively or at least neutrally. Use this time to read, listen to a favorite podcast, or take a leisurely walk.

I really like the Bento Box approach. Now Us (top left): Who I rely on and who rely on me;what's the right thing to do for us? The greater our circle is, the fairer our decisions will be.Fairness/Community/Tradition. Future Us (top right): Who will follow, the legacy I want to leave. What we can afford to sacrifice now, for the benefit of the future. Awareness/Knowledge/Sustainability/Ecology. Now Me (bottom left): Just doing it for me/pleasing to me, etc. Safety/Security/Pleasure/Autonomy. Future Me (bottom right): The who I hope to end up as being. Purpose/Grit/Pursuit of Mastery. Using this approach, it helps to make decisions about what large tasks should be prioritised from a more congruent, holistic, more ethical perspective.

You will not be your most productive self if you are overwhelmed. Your mental health and ability to successfully do the job are things that should be considered priority as well. One thing that has helped me is to ensure that I always take a step back to assess BEFORE things become too hectic. You can't control everything, but you can control how you react, and that is what sets apart the great leaders.

I use the Google Keep application to keep notes and create task lists with checkboxes. I schedule all my meetings in Google Calendar. If a task becomes irrelevant, I delete it. If a task lingers on the list for too long, I review it. Sometimes, I rephrase it or break it into smaller tasks, and occasionally, I decide not to pursue it.

It is better to sit back, take a deep breath and relax. Revisit your KPIs. Check what is the most important things that needs to be done. Delegate those activities which are not that critical and focus on those areas that can hit your goal .

The journey to effective task prioritization doesn't end with setting goals and creating to-do lists; it's equally crucial to regularly review and reflect on your progress and performance. Let me share a story from my experience that illustrates the significance of this final step and how it has helped me continuously improve my time management skills and achieve my goals: Some time ago, I was working on a challenging project that required meticulous planning and coordination. I was determined to meet the project's objectives and deadlines, so I diligently applied all the prioritisation techniques and strategies I had learned over the years.

I don't see this often and becomes overlooked. But reviewing and reflecting helps build your skills and therefore helps reach your targets. When you do something and doesn't work out you should always ask why it went that way or why it didn't work and what could you do differently next time. That way much like with experimenting, you can write down this how it wad last time so let's not do the same mistake again and try another way to get round the issue when it works write that down and how it worked and always improve on it.

During my tenure at Reliance Jio., we had quarterly team evaluations. In one particular quarter, despite accomplishing most targets, we felt a collective sense of dissatisfaction. Upon reflection, we realized we'd been focusing on sheer task completion rather than gauging the efficacy of our prioritized tasks. This led us to introduce a monthly 'Review and Reflect' session, an environment where we candidly assessed our work's impact and recalibrated if necessary. These sessions didn't just improve our productivity but fostered a culture of continuous improvement and open dialogue.

The first thing I do is write down everything. It helps clear my mind. I usually do it at night so that whatever chaos I've created in my mind will be on paper. Next, I prioritize tasks based on deadlines and their importance. If there are too many tasks and not enough time, I try to allocate specific time slots for each and then block my calendar accordingly. I also make time for short, rejuvenating breaks.

Here's a few more things - 1. 2 minute rule: if you can do a task under 2 mins, just do it immediately. As an extension to this, I typically like to cluster several of such 2 mins tasks together. I also like to extend this rule to 15 mins rule: need to do a quick discussion to share your input? Need to speak to someone in engineering for a quick question? Need to speak with someone in CS team to respond to a query of theirs? Do these things immediately if you can. Then set time blocks on the calendar for your core tasks. You can also set time blocks to do smaller tasks at once.

Irrespective of the hacks or the time saving methods you use, you have to remember that unless you take action and be consistent, no productivity tips are going to help you. You have to make a choice daily, to make micro decisions daily to choose to be present in the task in hand and be productive. In the end we all have 24 hours, but how well we manage time and things that are important to us, makes us efficient.

One of the best methods that helped me a lot in my career is «The Eisenhower Matrix» which is a task management tool that helps you prioritize tasks by urgency and importance. You get to divide your tasks on the matrix to come up with four boxes «Do First - Schedule to Do - Delegate - Delete«. And to my surprise a quiet a good amount of tasks went to the Delete box, which gives you more focus on the things that matters. Some what leads you to recognize the 80/20 Rule and apply it spontaneously on your day-to-day work.

When considering ways to increase productivity and manage your time, there are lots of tools and systems. However, these additions alone will not significantly improve productivity if one is constantly exhausted, unable to focus, or being drained by "emotional trigger or thought patterns". The key to increasing productivity and use your time effectively lies in effective energy management.