How do you prioritize?
As so many of you, I struggle with the overwhelming tasks that I need to take on everyday. This morning I woke up again feeling a bit anxious about all that I have to try to "accomplish" or complete today. One thing that always worries me is to focus or spend my time and energy on the things that matter less; transient stuff.
Discernment in this area is quite important. Where do we get the wisdom to know what to focus our efforts on? Is this the most important task that I should be working on?
I notice that I feel the best and the most peaceful when my effort and focus is aligned with my values. So it's critical to be as clear as possible about what our core values are.
Another useful tip is to separate the feeling, emotion or perception about what's in our To-Do list and the process of actually doing the work. What I mean by that is; usually we feel anxious or overwhelmed or stuck by just thinking about what's waiting for us. However, once a task to be worked on chosen, the actual process of working on it is far less stressful.
The other skill I think we all should develop is the capability to do "Deep Work". Jumping from one task to another might make us look like we're very efficient and productive, but indeed it just doesn't work and reduces the quality of our work drastically.
To summarize; here are my top 3 tips for Prioritization and Productivity:
- Know your core values and align your tasks accordingly
- Pick one task to work on at a time
- Focus on the task without distraction
Usually the intensity of the satisfaction we get from accomplishing our goals also aligns with how much the task is in line with our core values and our ability to do Deep Work for longer period of time, which contributes to the quality of the work directly.
What are some of your tips for prioritization and productivity?
Hope you all have a very productive day!
E