Prioritising – How to Prioritise your tasks.
Prioritising is such a difficult task for so many people as we simply do not take a step back and look at what is critically important.
In my challenge there are so many things to do each day, and so much information being thrown at me that I can easily get distracted and end up missing the important work.
The Pareto principle states that 20% of your effort brings 80% of your results. That means that its the 20% that is the most important, and what you should be concentrating on first.
Actually in my experience I have found that it is the 10% that brings 90% of the results. Working most recently with a TV shopping channel I discovered that 10% of customer gave 90% of the company’s profits. No wonder they focused all their resources on these 10%
It’s the same with my schedule. It’s the 10% of work which will bring 90% of my results. It’s not how much work I get done, but more about doing the right work. Working smarter not harder. Of course hard work is required, but only on the 10% of tasks which bring the main results. Then when I have spare time I concentrate on the rest.
I will choose just 3 tasks to accomplish each day. These are my priority 1 tasks. All others tasks take a backseat until these are done. (makes my day much more manageable and I can clearly see what I have achieved each day)
Todays 3 tasks.
1) Pay my rent using the last bits in my account (necessary activity or I am on the street, an added problem I do not need this month) – All it takes is a transfer from my online account, but its activity number 1 for me today.
2) Complete my negotiations with my web designer to see if I can get a reduction on the price to fit what cash I have left. Relaunching this site correctly will bring in much needed cash so this is of high priority to me.
3) List at least 15 potential customers (using local newspapers and the internet) and attempt to contact them all.
That’s it. It may not be the best way, but the sure way to get to the best solution is to start and improve as you go along. I really get confused as to why people debate ideas for weeks on end…
Just start, nothing can beat practical experience…
I have started, how about you?
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I LOVE this, Dee, because the points you make are exactly what Kevin and I are dealing with right now. We have been SO distracted due to information flooding in each day from new friends we made in January – all good stuff, but not relevant to our tasks at hand. By listing a few tasks to accomplish for each day and NOT doing anything else until they are done is excellent advice and strategy for us, too, right now. Thanks, Dee. We’re on track now.
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