As our workdays become increasingly complicated, we need efficient ways to focus on the things that matter. Instead of wishing for more hours in the day, we’ve come up with 5 tips for setting priorities and getting things done in a timely manner. Read on to find out how we stay on track throughout the day!
1. Solve Critical Items First
To-do lists can help us feel more efficient but they can also make us feel a bit overwhelmed so it’s important to know which items are more critical than others. Create a short list of tasks on a piece of paper. Once you see all your day’s tasks on paper, ask yourself the question: If I only had the resources to do one, which would it be? If you end up with more than 5, you have too many.
2. Manage Your Inbox Wisely
More often than not, reading emails can take away hours of our day without even realizing it. Instead of trying to read and respond to all your messages at once, set up specific times of the day to tackle your inbox so you’re not constantly looking at your email every minute of the day. We suggest taking three email breaks throughout the day: morning, lunch, and at the end of day. This will help you take long breaks between emails and actually do some work!
3. Optimize Your Schedule
Find those little efficiency points throughout the day to help you reduce time. Take a look at your to-do list for the day and find a way to kill two birds with one stone. If one of your priorities is to meet with a business partner during the day, try picking up lunch with them. This will help you reduce your to-do list as well as create better relationships with your team and future colleagues.
4. It’s Okay to Say, “No”
We all have good intentions when we wake up in the mornings, but it’s crucial that we don’t let others sidetrack us from our daily tasks. If a colleague asks you to help them with a task that will distract you for more than 5 minutes, let them know that you are not able to help them at the moment. Being able to say “no” will not only help you stay on task with your priorities, but also help you feel less overwhelmed throughout the day.
5. Be Realistic
As efficient as to-do lists are, it is nearly impossible to tackle all your tasks if you just keep adding more and more to the list. It’s very important to be realistic about how much time you have during the day to complete each task. If you need to, try re-prioritizing your list half way through the day to make sure you are keeping the most urgent tasks at the top of your list.
What do you do to prioritize every day? Let us know what works for you in the comments below!