How do you prioritise your work, housekeeping and hobbies? Get started with this handy guide. Whether you’re a stay at home parent or you work full time or part time, you probably find yourself sometimes wondering:
with a to-do list so long, will I ever reach the end of it?
It’s not easy to organise, plan and prioritise your workload when your attention is divided in so many directions.
Maybe you’re starting the day with great intentions, find yourself being super busy but when you stop at the end of the day you look around and think: so what did I actually do today?
Just because you’re moving, doesn’t mean you’re moving forward.
Maybe you have a project at work with a deadline that’s looming but you’re struggling to really get it off the ground.
But with these simple steps you should figure out a way to get the top stuff done and give yourself a bit of time back at the end of it.
I’ve kept it short and sweet so you wont procrastinate from your to-do list. And you’re going to want to read to the end.
Can I just say, I was dreadful at this? Dreadful. Hopefully this’ll help you learn just as I have. Step 2 has been a game changer for me.
How to prioritise your work – step by step
Step 1: Get it all on paper, yes, all of it.
Your brain is for having ideas not for holding them ~ David Allen
You have 2 main steps:
- The Brain Dump – write down every thing on your mind that needs doing. Even if you don’t make it to the second step, I love to use ‘The Brain Dump’ when I’m feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Usually it’s because I’m too much in my own head and it allows me to clear my brain to think.
- The Priority Matrix – Set up as a 2 by 2 grid, the priority matrix (sometimes known as an Eisenhower Matrix) helps you decide which tasks to do first. It’s split into 4 categories: Urgent + Important, Urgent + Not Important, Important + Not Urgent, Not Urgent + Not Important. See below how you can easily set it up. Once you’ve dumped all the brain goo on the page, it’s time to sort.
Note: you could skip step 1, and dump everything straight into the priority matrix. I do this if I’m short of time. But the first step prevents cognitive overload since you think of what needs doing in no particular order.
As you can see above, I’ve set up a quick matrix in my diary, but depending on where I’m working I have a PDF version I made for GoodNotes.
But we’re not done yet, keep reading to see what’s next!
Step 2: Do you know which bit of your work to prioritise?
Okay so you now have 4-6 tasks maybe in the Urgent + Important section, now what?
Firstly, whatever takes 5 minutes or less, DO IT NOW. For example, on the right I have ‘Book blood test’, that’s an easy win that I can cross of my list first and I’ve already tackled one of my top tasks.
If you still can’t decide what’s first, I’m going to quote you my most favourite question from a fantastic book – The ONE Thing.
What’s the one thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else is easier or unnecessary?
For me, writing is my ONE Thing. Writing is my business, my creative outlet and my main thing such that everything else, i.e. social media posts, emails are more or less done for me. So whatever has the closest deadline, that’s the ONE Thing I do.
When it comes to housework, my ONE Thing is usually clearing the kitchen worktops. I don’t know why it just makes our house feel 100% cleaner.
Step 3: Schedule your Important + Not Urgent tasks on a weekly calendar
Chances are if you’ve included tasks under ‘Important + Not Urgent’ you’ll need to do these within a week or so.
In my opinion planning only the current day isn’t efficient, but monthly planning is too far off. (Obviously you’ll make medical appointments well in advance.) Too many changes can happen in 30 days, so I’ve found a week is the sweet spot for prioritising your current workload.
So pick a time, pop those in the calendar and forget them for now.
Step 4: Time blocking/ batching work
When you are scheduling your tasks, consider how much time you have and if you can group your tasks together, otherwise known as ‘batching’. Consider how much time it takes to switch tasks. So much time is lost when out attention is constantly switching between modes of working.
Try blocking out several hours to do ‘deep work’ if you have autonomy on how you complete your work during the day.
By the way, whilst we’re talking about how to prioritise your work, this totally applies to housework. If you need to hoover, do the whole house. When you have the time, have a laundry day. If you need to pay your bills, pay all the bills you can in one go and one specific time of the month.
Step 5: Don’t be afraid to delegate and delete!
Now here comes the good bit. Sharing the tasks and getting rid of the stuff that isn’t serving you.
See that bit that says ‘Urgent + Not Important’, some of those you can definitely pass to someone else. Here’s some handy delegations: age appropriate chores for your kids, if your parents take the children for the day while you’re at work can they do a load of laundry? People on your team at work doing some admin or sharing out the really dull tasks.
Finally, ‘Not Urgent + Not Important’ tasks can just be forgotten for now. You know you can come back to these when you have a spare 5 minutes at the end of the day. Or not. The point is: they don’t matter.
Step 6: Limit your distractions to prioritise your work effectively and focus
I can’t have YouTube/ Prime/ Disney+ playing in background. I’ll fool myself into thinking I can, then I catch myself staring at the screen. Music/ radio is ok if you can do it without paying attention. Again, I find myself singing along and very much not focusing on my ONE Thing.
Your phone is the obvious one isn’t it. Have good practices during your work day so that your phone isn’t a temptation. I leave mine either in my locker or my bag when I’m physically at work. Or I leave it on charge on the counter when I’m at home.
I close my email tab when I’m at work, I’ll check at certain times of the day like when I first log in, break, lunch and end of the day. If you can check less than this that’s great. Remember, if they really needed you, they’d call or come find you.
Step 7: Take a time-out
A game-changing mindset-shift for me was: prioritising isn’t about getting work done to get more done. It’s getting the big stuff out the way to have space.
Space from work, space for loved ones, space to say ‘sod it all I’m clocking out now’ because I need to get back to me.
For me, it’s about being present with my kids and investing in myself.
You got the tools, now go do it!
Okay friend, here’s your recap of how to prioritise your work:
- Write it all down in a priority matrix
- Start with your Urgent + Important tasks. Jobs under 5 minutes done straight away and then ask yourself ‘What’s the ONE Thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else is easier or unneccessary?‘
- Schedule your ‘Not Urgent + Important’ tasks for later this week
- Batch your tasks to remove time lost in transitions
- Delegate ‘Not Important + Urgent’, Delete ‘Not Important + Not Urgent’
- Limit your distractions
- Take a break when your top tasks are done
I hope you find this post helpful, I can honestly say it’s improved my workflow and focus. Share this article with someone who needs it!