Effective Task Prioritization
As I’ve continued my mentorship journey, offering advice and suggestions to over a dozen entrepreneurs and marketers alike, I’ve found a recurring trend: a lack of focus.
It makes sense, right? We’re overwhelmed with so many tasks and projects that it can be tough to take the time to find the right thing to actually concentrate on. I know it did for me.
I’ve already spoken to you all about the Veitia Matrices, offering suggestions for using it in order to re-anchor yourself on what’s important to focus on, but for many, the exercise may be too onerous at times in order to complete.
That’s why I want to simplify it even further.
When you decide if a task or project is meaningful to you, you need to first decide what are the qualities that define a task or project that matter to you.
For me, that was whether a task was a ‘20% task (vital few)’ or ‘80% task’ trivial many’. What I mean by that is that whether a task was going to allow me to maximize impact with little time commitment then I wanted to weigh it more heavily than a task that wasn’t going to move the needle for my business or clients.
Another key qualifier that I wanted to focus on was how draining it was to my mental energy levels. This is oftentimes overlooked but key to working long stretches (especially in a work-from-home environment where you may have little social interactions during the day)
Finally, I wanted to include a prioritization based on urgency. How important was it that I finish the task today?
But you might not have the same priorities as I do. Here’s a list of other priorities which you might find important:
Solobility. You might not work well with others or you might not want to depend on others. This is totally valid. You might want to prioritize based on this factor.
Length of the task. You could wish to prioritize tasks that are short over ones that are long or vice-versa.
Resource availability. Prioritizing tasks based on the availability of resources, such as budget or personnel, can help ensure that tasks are completed efficiently and effectively.
Risk. Depending on the nature of your venture you may wish to prioritize by risk, therefore minimizing any financial losses you might otherwise incur.
Alignment with goals: Prioritizing tasks based on their alignment with personal or organizational goals can help reduce confusion and ensure
Customer or stakeholder needs: Prioritizing tasks based on the needs of customers or stakeholders can help ensure that their needs are met and their expectations are exceeded.
Involvement. You may want to assign priority depending to who is involved. Some folks are more reliable than others. You might want to take that into account as you assign tasks.
Return on investment. Dollars and cents. Pure and simple. Is this task going to give me my best ROI?
Return on reputation or influence could also be prioritized.
…Of course, this list is not meant to be exhaustive. There’s literally no end to the number of attributes a task could have that you could choose to prioritize.
“Could” is the key word here. You could absolutely go overboard introducing layers of complexity to your productivity system but you should choose 3 attributes to help you decide on effective prioritization, max.
Once you’ve chosen the three attributes you want to optimize for, go through your list and add colored dot stickers to each task based on high or low values of your chosen attributes. This will allow you to quickly identify the tasks which you do not want to focus on. Get rid of them.
Then go through your list once more and highlight 3 which you think will have the largest impact on your business.
Yes, I keep coming to impact. Even if you haven’t chosen it, it’s the single most important attribute that you can be optimizing for.
Why? Because you don’t have all the time in the world. Time is the most important resource you have. And, yet, you also are bound by the same rules of time that Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Edison, and Steve Jobs were subject to. Why is it that they were able to build Empires, Companies, and Products?
They knew what to focus on. They knew how to identify the key tasks that had an outsized impact on performance.
So, ultimately, while you might want to choose other metrics to guide you in prioritization in order to weed down the list of tasks and projects you’re committed to, what you ultimately should choose to focus on – all else being equal – impact.
Always strive to make each project you’re committed to have the largest impact and you’ll start to change your life’s trajectory. By learning when to take on, shelf, delegate, or cancel a project you’ll start to reclaim some time for yourself and work towards establishing a positive work-life (im)balance.
Creating your own system of task prioritization takes self-reflection and honesty. It requires work and might distract you from other, more pressing matters. That’s why I created the aforementioned ‘Veitia Matrices’. I’ve identified a universal system for task/project/life prioritization that will ensure that you always are focused on the most important and impactful areas in your life.
Once you’re ready to use the Veitia Matrices, feel free to sign up below to have a customizable digital version sent straight to your email.
