How to Prioritize your Daily Task List
When asked what the important things in life are, most people will say things like these in answer: “Submitting an important project before the deadline,” “paying credit card bills before the due date,” “completing the client request on time,” or something in the same tune. So that is how we sum up the important things in our life.
Prioritize your daily task list. While creating your priority list be realistic about your bandwidth. Everything is manageable if we learn to prioritize effectively.
I don’t know who to blame for it, but our life is on such a fast track that we are leaving behind things that are really important and matter in our life. Submitting a project on time or paying your credit card bill is not important, at best it is critical.
Spending time with your 5-year-old daughter or giving company to your aging parents is what you can call important. Unfortunately, we are so involved in the “critical” things in life that we forget the important things. Ironically, critical becomes more important than “important.”
The more you involve yourself in the critical aspects of your life, the more stressful your life will become. Why don’t you pause for a moment and reflect. See how far you have come away from the important things in your life. Here are some ways to take time for the important things in life.
Prioritize your Daily Task List and Understand the Difference between Critical and Important
Sit down, close your eyes, take a deep breath and think. Figure out whether what you consider important really is important or just critical. Make a note of all the things that you think are important in your life and then identify whether it is actually important or only critical.
You will be surprised to see how you have spent a big part of your life chasing critical things and ignoring important things. If your list includes, “paying the electric bill,” you know it is critical. If an entry in your list says, “Taking my son to a football match,” you know now that it is important.
Act on your list of important things–Start prioritizing
Now you know what is important for you and what is critical. But just knowing isn’t enough. You need to act on it too. This could be the most difficult part. When you scan through the list, perhaps your first question will be, “How do I take time out for important things?” It is an important question, more so because you are perhaps too conditioned to take care of critical things only.
Don’t assume that things will change overnight. The first step is to prioritize. When managed and prioritized well, you will be surprised to see how your tasks can reshuffle to create extra time for you.
Start doing things you always wanted to do
Squeeze time out of your daily routine. Get into the habit of doing things more efficiently. It will give you a lot of time to do things you always wanted to do. It could be anything. If you wanted to be a painter, get you started with it. If you wanted to be a writer, start writing.
Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least ~ Goethe (Tweet this)
When you start focusing on the important things in life, you will also notice that somehow it will become easier to manage critical things. You become happier and the happier you become, the more efficient you are at work too. There is an unexplained relationship between happiness and efficiency
Give more time to your family and loved ones
Our parents teach us how to talk. Today when they call us, they have to ask whether they can talk to us or not. Spending time with them is not critical. But it sure is important. If you have kids, you know how they wait for you to come home so that they get some time to spend with you. Take a break from work and take them out for a picnic or fishing. This is what’s important.
Also Read – How do You Prioritize Your Goals in Life
Conclusion
Prioritization is the cornerstone of good time management. So, Prioritize your daily task list and manage your work flow effectively !!
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