The Importance of Prioritisation – 3 Tips To Make It Happen Today!

It may seem obvious, but the positive effects of prioritisation in your work can make all the difference to your productivity. Although many people know that prioritisation can be helpful, not many people know how to put it into practice. This week, we explore 3 tips to help you to include prioritisation into your day.

1. Make a list – Prioritisation is the practice of putting tasks in order of importance. Many people are overconfident in their memory abilities, and abilities to prioritise in their head. This can lead to mistakes, forgotten deadlines, and rushing. As stressed workers are 54% less productive than those who feel more relaxed and at ease in the workplace, ensuring that your tasks are ordered due to their importance can boost your productivity and help you to avoid mistakes.
2. Follow your body’s clock – Do you suffer from a mid-afternoon brain fog? You’re not alone! In the morning, your cortisol is the highest, which keeps you the most alert and is often when you are most productive. Despite this, everyone is different, some people get random sparks of inspiration throughout a day, whereas others follow strict routines of working early in the mornings. However it works for you, it is important to consider your body’s clock when making your plan. For example, if it takes you a while to get focused in the morning, start off with some administrative tasks to get yourself in the swing of things before starting larger projects.
3. Don’t overload yourself! – Productivity goes through stages, while on some days you may feel like you’ve achieved barely a thing, other days you will feel on fire with your productivity. When prioritising your tasks, make sure that you set your focus on an achievable amount to do that day. Balancing tasks out in order of importance is just one step to successful prioritisation, you should also consider variables such as how time-consuming they are, and how much energy they may consume. For example, if you have three big tasks to complete in a week, consider the best times to prioritise them in your schedule for more accurate planning. This will also help you to keep going – if you make achievable plans, you will be more likely to make more in the future.

Prioritisation is key to successful planning. Over time, prioritisation will help you to notice patterns in the tasks that are particularly important, which will help you to avoid common mistakes. When you fall into a habit of prioritisation, you are likely to notice an increase in your productivity. This is because prioritisation gives you the ability to chip away at large or important tasks while simultaneously providing you the time recharge. When you know that you have completed the goals that you set for yourself each day, you will feel more satisfied and fulfilled, and will find it easier to switch off and relax at the end of the day.