It’s a struggle we’ve all had, when your to-do list is longer than the hours in a day, learning how to prioritise your work is possible one of the most useful skills you can acquire. Why do we need to learn how to priorities work? With constant emails, demand for your time and juggling different projects, we can often become overwhelmed with the sheer number of tasks we need to complete. This can lead to us feeling stressed and overworked as we try to do everything.

Deciding what’s the priority

We all get that horrible feeling of urgency when we have work that needs to be done but distinguishing between which tasks we should prioritise. The ability to decide what pieces of work need to be done first is half the battle. You could simply rank them by importance, even if this is purely a mental exercise this can help in some way to order your work. Equally, looking at each piece of works deadline can be a useful and simple way of determining where to start. However, we understand a lot of work cannot simply be managed these ways, long-term projects can often feel overwhelming based on the size of the task and difficult to determine their importance over short-term deadlines. This does not mean they shouldn’t be prioritised, instead of breaking the project down into personalise, deadlines can help make the work more manageable.

Tips for prioritising your work

Make a list

This may sound obvious, but a big reason why we can feel more overwhelmed with our workload if we hold it all in our head. We’re all human and cannot be expected to remember everything. The best place to start is to write down everything you need to do in one place, getting it down in writing will make it clear exactly what needs doing. It’s important to write everything down no matter how big or small the task. You can make your list on paper, or use it digitally with software like OneNote. There are also plenty of apps that you can use to make lists on your phone, computer and tablet.

Another tip is to make sure when you write the task down it is detailed. For example, don’t just write down ‘reply to email’, instead make note of who you need to reply to, what the emails about etc. This may take more time when making the list, but by including detail you give the task direction and clarity. If you capture exactly what is required of the task therefore you can easily understand what is required of you for each task.

Determine the urgency and importance of each task

Now all your tasks are written down you can prioritise them in order of importance and urgency. You can do this using the Eisenhower matrix (watch the video to learn how).

This technique is centred around deciding your task list into four categories. There are tasks that are urgent and important, such as replying to an email or scheduling a meeting. These are tasks that often have a more immediate deadline, so you should be able to do them first and quickly. Then you have the less urgent but important category, these are tasks like a long project where you should allocate them some time little and often ensuring the project gets done. The third category is the urgent but less important, these are tasks which could perhaps be given to someone else, or they can be done quickly when you have a spare moment, but will not be the top priority on your list. Finally, you have the less urgent and less important section, these are tasks you don’t need to spend time doing such a searching the internet or scrolling through social media.

Organise your tasks

Once you’ve determined the urgency and importance of each task you can start to structure your list. Give your list structure can help manage your time, i.e. understanding how long each task might take you. A great way to make yourself feel less overwhelmed is by putting all the quick and easy tasks into one list and starting with them, that way you can tick off a lot of tasks quickly and get them out the way. This will make your list shorter allowing you to spend more time on the bigger important tasks. Equally, this is an effective way to get you in the flow of working.

We can often avoid or overlook bigger projects with distant deadlines thinking of them as low priority. However, has the Eisenhower matrix illustrates these important but not urgent tasks that need to be prioritised too! An effective way of doing this could be to break the project down into smaller personal deadlines. To do this create a list of all the things you need to for the project in small and manageable chunks. If you do a little and often you won’t be left with a mountain of work last minute. This can also make the project feel less daunting.

Another way of organising your tasks is to simply allocate them a time, you can either do this daily or weekly. Do this by looking at each task and putting it in your calendar for a certain day or time. If the task is recurring you can even schedule for the same time each week. Think of it as a meeting with yourself. This allows you to manage your time, if you have put it in your calendar it’s difficult to avoid doing the task, it can also be a great way of ensuring the work is done before the deadline. By allocating task time slots you can also manage your expectations for how much you can realistically get done that day and focus your time, as creating endless lists of task can be almost as overwhemling as having no list at all. Rember to allow time for breaks, as time away from work can be just as important as time working!

If you want to learn more how to improve your focus and productivity with your work, then check out our blog post on ‘5 Ways To Create A Productive Work Environment’. Looking for a dedicated workspace? If you or your team would like to book a desk pass or a tour of our desk spaces (virtual or in person), our team will be happy to help you decide which space best suits your needs.