Time Management Strategies to Prioritize Tasks at Work
How do you prioritize your tasks each day at work? Are you staring at a big long list of items you need to accomplish and can’t figure out where to start? Or do you not have a list at all and are just trying to remember everything you need to get done? There are many time management strategies that can help prioritize your workflow so that you can improve productivity, meet deadlines, and feel more in control of your work day. Here are three strategies recommended by this NYC Professional Office Organizer to help better prioritize your tasks.
MITs. One way to prioritize your daily work tasks is to create MITs – or Most Important Tasks. The key to using MITs is to take the time to define them. Without goals, you are more likely to waste time on tasks that are not as important or not at all related to your project. So, the first step is a written set of goals. After that, determine the 3 most important tasks to completing those goals. Those are the tasks to focus on and exert energy towards completing. You’ll be amazed by how much you get done when you are truly focused on your goals!
The Eisenhower Method. Introduced by President Dwight Eisenhower, this strategy uses a matrix that helps you decide on and prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. It also sorts out the less urgent and less important tasks which can then be delegated or skipped altogether. To use this method, you must assign tasks to 4 different quadrants. The tasks in the first quadrant, important and urgent, should be the tasks that you do first. The second quadrant, important but not urgent, should be tasks that you schedule. The third quadrant, urgent but less important, are the tasks that you should delegate to others. The fourth and final quadrant, the less urgent and less important, are tasks that you probably don’t need to be doing at all.
ABCDE Method. Introduced by Brian Tracy, this method starts by having you list out every single task you will do in a given day. Make sure you include everything – the big tasks and the small tasks. Now group the tasks together in order of importance – all of the important must do tasks are “A,” the tasks you should do but only have minor consequences if they aren’t finished are “B,” the tasks that would be nice to finish are “C,” tasks you can delegate are “D,” and tasks you should eliminate altogether are “E.” If you have more than one task in a category, assign them each a number. So you will have tasks in the first category that look like A1, A2, etc. When you start working, work through all of the A tasks before you move on to the B, and finish all of the B before you even begin the C. Delegate and eliminate the last two categories as your time is limited and should be focused only on tasks that must be done by you specifically.
Learning how to prioritize your tasks is the first step to time management at work. Once you know what to work on, you’ll find yourself increasing productivity and efficiency. For more time management and office organizing strategies, reach out to this NYC Professional Office Organizer.