Manage Your Priorities, Not Your Time, to Get the Important Work Done
Your to-do list is full and you only have a certain number of hours per day. How can you even do all this? First, stop figuring out how to fit everything . Instead, focus on important, high-priority tasks.
As tips site The Muse explains, many of us often feel like we have to do everything on our list, or simply because it’s on our list. We will build our schedules by crossing most of the items off our list, while feeling overwhelmed. Instead, work on the most important things on your list and try to solve some of the less important tasks that will recede into the background:
All of this has led to the emergence of a new school of time management aimed at focusing on your most important priorities, doing them well, and eliminating everything else, including obeying crazy hours. “The misconception that you can manage time and that by managing it you’ll do a ton of things, cross everything off your to-do list, and live this superhuman life, is actually just setting people up for frustration and failure,” says Bridget Schulte , author of Stunned: Work, Love and Play When No One Has Time. “You can manage your priorities and expectations for what you do on time.”
The idea that it’s okay to have some to-do’s is intimidating to anyone who regularly compiles their to-do list. The thought of an item on your list forever becomes a nightmare for some. However, if you are good at managing your priorities, then the only tasks you ever let hang are those you can afford to wait (or ignore altogether). It will also make it easier for you to achieve results if you spend your best hours on the most important work.