Because All Tasks Are Not Created Equal

How toPrioritise Your Task List

And with prioritising being something many of us don’t always think about, or give it

the attention it deserves …

Client StrategyFollowing is the strategy a client and I worked out to help him achieve more out of his day with the help of some prioritising….

I wanted to share this with you

Make a List of All Your Tasks

• the must-get-round-to

Asana is a web and mobile application designed to enable teamwork without email

• the urgents• the need-to-do

In this case:• We made a task list and popped these into ASANA then synced that

with his calendar

Identify vs Important

Urgent being work that, if not completed by the end of the day or in the

next several hours, will have

serious negative consequencess

In this case:• A missed deadline

• Research required for a meeting that afternoon

• Finalising a proposal

Rule

This argues that typically 80% of your outcomes come from 20% of your inputs

In this case: • We looked through the clients tasks (20%) and

identified which ones had the greatest outcomes (80%) once complete

AssessLook at important

work and identify what carries the highest

value to the businessIn this case: • Billable work before lead generation• Newsletter before his next blog returning missed calls

before email etc

We created rules to help recognise exactly which types of tasks have top priority over the others

Tasks That Take Most Effort First

Sometimes it’s a nice mix to

interchange the lengthier tasks with

quick onesClosing completed tasks = Important satisfaction element

Do all you can to keep your momentum

Accept there are times priorities will change this

allows you to become focused and committed

In this case: • This client had times where troubleshooting

can seriously impact his day

• We allowed time for these in his calendar and I emphasised, be flexible and adaptable

Sometimes you don’t have a chance of getting to

everything on your list

In this case: • We prioritised tasks and checked the

calendar

• Client scheduled the balance through the rest of the week (according to priority)

The priorities changed as the tasks were pushed out, e.g a priority 3 task on Monday became a priority 1 task on Wednesday

Here’s Your 15 Minute Homework

(in your diary, on a piece of paper, in a time or project

management app … whichever works best for you)

List ALL of your tasks

Identify which are urgent and which are important 

Here’s Your 15 Minute Homework

Sort or tag accordingly

Now look at the 80/20 effect - which tasks have the greatest outcomes

Here’s Your 15 Minute Homework

 Tag

 Apply to list

Here’s Your 15 Minute Homework

Create a short list of simple rules that help

you assess value

Be realistic about what you can achieve in a day

Here’s Your 15 Minute Homework

Schedule your tasks according to when you

are most productive

Look at your schedule, have you allowed time for

the unexpected?  

Here’s Your 15 Minute Homework

If not, slot some times in to allow for any changes to

priorities

When your calendar schedule does go up

the gurgler, relax

Here’s Your 15 Minute Homework

 Re-prioritise and embrace that flexibility.  We are only human!!

Summary

.

List & Prioritise

• Listing and prioritizing gives you huge peace of mind• No need to worry thinking you’ve forgotten something• You can relax knowing you have a plan in place• As new tasks come in, prioritise according to the steps I have

outlined 

Track &

Review

• Put tasks in Asana (or another task tracking system)• A tip I use is to spend the last 10 minutes of my day reviewing tasks• I amend priorities, schedule in new tasks and my day is planned out

for me from the moment I sit at my desk the following morning

Virtual

Assistant

• If you are working with a virtual assistant I highly recommend documenting how you prioritise tasks so they can work with you to ensure the ‘urgents’ get the most attention

• They can then prioritise and schedule incoming tasks for you from your inbox

For the full article…

http://www.yourva.co.nz/prioritising-tasks/