One of the simplest and most pragmatic tools to help get things done is the use of a daily Task List. Written in the morning in 10 or 15 minutes before you begin your day you first list all of the things you want to accomplish that day. Then you organize every task by priority. You can arrange your tasks into "peak" and "non-peak" work times. For instance, even though it may be important to complete your expense report it may be best to do that at the end of the day and after the primary hours during which you can reach customers on the phone. It also helpful to get items out of the way that are your least favorite tasks. As you go through the day, working your way through the tasks, you may need to add new tasks and insert them in order of priority. AS each task is completed "check" or cross-off the completed item to create a visible record of your achievements. At the end of the day you may need to "carry over" items into the next day. I find that keeping a "steno" pad with a record of tasks listed and tasks completed helps to give me a sense of accomplishment and also provides a good reminder not only that I am good at "chopping down trees" but that I am chopping in the right "forest", as well.
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It is indisputable that making a list can be an enormously helpful tool to organize one’s thoughts and by extension, one’s activities. Being myself a list maker of some note, I am further interested in an extended application of the usefulness of prioritizing. The impulse to order our daily activities can be expanded to include the idea of ordering, quite simply, our life. This effort can lead not only to order and harmony in our quotidian but the achievement of a much simpler existence, as we learn to be more astute at weeding out the un-necessary and prioritize with more intelligence.
It is also an indisputable fact that time is of the essence and a valuable commodity in modern day. No one has ever enough of it; therefore it is critical that we learn to make the best, most efficient and I might add, most creative, use of our time by making active decisions about whom we spend it with.
It might seem unkind to suggest that it could be useful to prioritize our relationships but it wouldn’t be less true. Even as we value people and the human connection, it is necessary to acknowledge that some touch our lives more profoundly and should play a more prominent role. One vivid example that comes to mind is from my own past. Thanks to my Italian heritage, I prioritized my family over my friends, whereas my ex prioritized friends over his family. The net result was that in the aftermath of our divorce it was I who lost most of our mutual friends! It was payback time for having placed my priorities elsewhere. Facing this sad realization also taught me to think more acutely about how to prioritize my relationships for the future.
Prioritizing relationships is important as an exercise is creating one’s boundaries and expressing personal needs. A particularly exigent boss once taught me the importance of not being fearful about prioritizing one’s time, as it is our personal responsibility to do so. Furthermore, no one will do this for us! As witnessed by another boss who was unable to use his time effectively, I was only marginally able to help him with this. Therefore, it is a valid question to ask ourselves just whom we choose to have in our lives and in what measure as it has repercussions on many levels, business and personal.
It should be noted that not everyone appreciates being prioritized and push back is inevitable as others seek to assert their dominance. I have learned to quite enjoy the art of the push back, expressing confidence about thinking actively about who brings added value to my life and in what proportion. Although sounding harsh, it is but an honest reflection that there is literally no time for the not-quites.
A personal goal I hold is to make informed daily decisions about first and foremost how I use my time and with whom. Prioritizing in this manner in turn leads me to making more informed decisions in my life. This, I believe, will make it possible for me to live a more harmonious existence based on the principle of simplicity, as I remove what is less necessary to leave room for what is absolutely critical and empowering. Each time I write my daily task list I am re-enforcing this desire in a small way to reach my personal power in a greater fashion.
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