Importance Of Prioritization For Professional Success

Individuals and businesses must prioritize their focus and pay attention to every task in their to do list to be successful. Every growing business has constraints in terms of resources and time. It is highly important for a person to spend his or her time on the most important areas that can drive success.

It is common that we panic when we tackle our tasks by priority, but it feels like everything is important. It is difficult to skilfully juggle multiple priorities and competing responsibilities. There are times when one has to manage workload at the office as well as the ever-growing list of to-dos at home. Managing everything is not impossible. Below are some steps to be taken to manage tasks better and touch upon every important aspect:

• Answer the Question: Is Everything Really Important?

Even if everything on the plate is supposed to be equally important, we still need a way to break down which ones we spend your time on, and how we slice up our time. The first question one has to get past is whether or not everything really is of equal importance.

• Work backwards

One has to think on his feet and get things done with rigorous follow up when a majority of task completions depend on other people like vendors, suppliers and subordinates. It is crucial to find out how much time is required to work on each task and what can be the most likely time, the fastest expected and the highest delay when things get worse and respond to stakeholders accordingly. One has to consider the due dates, take into account how much effort is needed to put into each one and how much input is needed from others and work backwards to find out what you should be working on right now.

• Protect Oneself

It is always advisable to put discussions in writing and share it with everyone involved in order to have everyone on the same page and update the status of each task. One has to set expectations with others as to when work gets done from them and set expectations with oneself for when we would have time to work on our own projects and how we will live up to the expectations to whom we report.

Ask around:

If you’re prioritizing tasks that involve other people, like your family, friends, and co-workers, talk to them. Find out from them when they need your help, how much work is backed up behind the things you are working with them on and if they can lend a hand.