You have a big vision and dreams for your future, the only problem is that your to-do list has a mind of its own.
Everything seems urgent and important.
Dwight Eisenhower said, “What’s important is seldom urgent and what’s urgent is seldom important”.
Take some time to think about what makes the most impact in your work. This exercise will help you clear up what is important.
Stop and allocate your tasks into these four sections:
1. Important and Urgent – Do these tasks now and first. These are usually low effort and high impact. Procrastinating on these tasks can be detrimental. Get on these as soon as possible.
2. Important but NOT Urgent – These tasks should be scheduled, done soon or made into a project. They tend to be high effort and high impact. Do these consistently for long term rewards.
3. NOT Important but Urgent – These tasks should be rescheduled or delegated. Make it into a job to do later or have someone else do it. They tend to be low effort and low impact tasks. These are the tasks we usually spend much time doing, and they make very little difference.
4. NOT Important and NOT Urgent – Do these later or avoid doing them altogether. These are the type of tasks you should forget for now if you truly want to make an impact. They tend to high effort and low impact.
Prioritising your tasks in this way enables you to use your time more efficiently. We all only get 24 hours a day, and we must use them wisely.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.