Living with Priorities
Posted on February 22, 2008
Filed Under Personal development |
For the better part of my life I have had to live with my family’s not-so-thinly-veiled accusation that I didn’t know the first thing about setting priorities; or, more exactly, setting them correctly! My priorities were all skewed; I didn’t know the first thing about what should be important to me, either personally or professionally.
With hypermetropic hindsight, I have today matured enough to realise that perhaps they were right and I was wrong. Setting priorities is a systematic and thoughtful process, which I clearly did not. I just couldn’t prioritise. Have I become better at it now? Well, ask me ten years hence and I may perhaps have an answer.
Prioritising is an individual process with which nobody can help you. With a mere soupcon of skills in time management you shouldn’t find yourself in a time-tied tizzy. Indeed you may well become the Pundit of Positive Prioritisation.
Juggling multiple work and family responsibilities (meeting deadlines, arranging for childcare, or spending quality time with your family) can become a nightmare, that come back to haunt one.
While some people seemingly breeze through stress-filled days with the proverbial wind in their sails, others are caught in a whirlpool of confusion and chaos.
Wish they had self-help books like, ‘Deadlines for dummies’, or perhaps even `Priorities for dummies’. I might have bought the entire stock and read them all and be at peace by this time!
Unequal balance
Not all priorities are equal, ergo the need to keep them. Possibly this is the cause for the phrase ‘juggling your priorities’! The tips below helped me, perhaps they might do the same for you:
Prioritising is a serious business. Though it seems easy to identify the important aspects of your job, selecting priorities is not exactly child’s play. You need a matrix of the tasks you have to perform.
This is called the ‘Four Quadrant Matrix of Prioritisation’. Divide your tasks into Quadrant 1 for high importance-high urgency. This is the work that you MUST do immediately. Right below that is quadrant 2, which is high importance but low urgency.
This is the stuff that you must do but not immediately, but by the end of the day - mid- or long-range tasks. Quadrant 3 is the place where the task is not so important, but is urgent, so you need to get to it as soon as you’ve finished quadrant 1. Remember, this may not be earth-shakingly important, but it requires attention, otherwise it may end up in quadrant 1! Finally, the trivial tasks you need to perform but are neither important nor urgent should be listed in quadrant 4. Unfortunately, 90% of us spend 60% of our time dealing with quadrant 3 and 4. Why? Because they are easy and relative no-brainers!
So, in the light of the point above, make honest choices. Phoney priorities are only false promises. You’ll only kid yourself.
Realistic goal setting is what you should aim for. With unreasonable and unfeasible goals you are setting yourself up for failure. Identify the key targets to be achieved and how you plan to achieve them. Prime time for prime tasks, down time for the trivial ones.
Set specific and relevant priorities and goals. Your priorities should foster commitment not confusion.
Priorities should not be so rigid so as to leave no room for creativity. Be flexible but not complacent.
Focus is paramount if you want to get anywhere. Your task fitment into the quadrants is critical and to get this right you need focus.
Neither too many nor too little have - just having one area of focus and emphasis is as bad as having too many. Be selective but include at least 4-5 areas, which need all your attention and effort. It is important that you enjoy your work for you are likely to work more effectively if you do. Time is of no consequence because what you choose to do; you will find time to do it.
Don’t make the mistake of merely making a mental note of it— put it down on paper. Till you write down your priorities they remain just that - only ideas. The minute you put it down, it becomes a commitment and a plan.
Phrase them in such a way that it inspires and motivates you every time you read it. Your emotional response to them will decide your level of commitment.
Do it yourself. Nothing could be worse than allowing others to define your goals and priorities. Also make sure that there is no clash between your personal and professional priorities. Individual priorities should support and complement organisational goals.
Priorities are only good when they are set and kept, the `keeping’ part being the most difficult to manage.
When people have poorly defined priorities, they find it hard to say `no’ to things they don’t want to do. Priorities are the guidelines to protect you from unwise decisions, inspire and guide you on the job. They are what you do, not what you say.
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