How to Prioritize Work When Everything Feels Like #1

A lot of time in talking with our clients across all areas of business, they feel that prioritizing tasks effectively can be a major hurdle to overcome. Why? Because in most businesses, especially in small businesses, many tasks feel like they are all of equal importance on the to-do list. Thanks to an article from Liquid Planner, they offer six steps to help manage your deadlines and get your team motivated!

1. Collect a list of all your tasks.
Pull together everything you could possibly consider getting done in a day. Don’t worry about the order or the number of items up front.

2. Identify urgent vs. important.
The next step is to see if you have any tasks that need immediate attention. We’re talking about work that, if not completed by the end of the day or in the next several hours, will have serious negative consequences (missed client deadline; missed publication or release deadlines, etc.).

3. Assess value.
Next, look at your important work and identify what carries the highest value to your business and organization. As a general practice, you want to recognize exactly which types of tasks have top priority over the others.


4. Order tasks by estimated effort.
If you have tasks that seem to tie for priority standing, check their estimates, and start on whichever one you think will take the most effort to complete.

5. Be flexible and adaptable.
Uncertainty and change are given. Know that your priorities will change, and often when you least expect them to. But—and here’s the trick—you also want to stay focused on the tasks you’re committed to completing.

6. Know when to cut.
You probably can’t get to everything on your list. After you prioritize your tasks and look at your estimates, cut the remaining tasks from your list, and focus on the priorities that you know you must and can complete for the day. Then take a deep breath, dive in and be ready for anything (Liquid Planner.com)."  To read more about these six tips, click here for the entire article!

If you want help getting your business back on track, or just need an extra set of hands to complete some of your urgent tasks, MLE can help! Learn more about the wide variety of services we offer at: www.mythiclanding.com today!