Episode Transcript
How Do I Know What’s Most Important on My To-Do List?
This Can Be a Hard Question to Answer
The past couple of weeks, we’ve talked about setting goals and how achieving them is our responsibility. But this can be hard. There are so many things on my list that sometimes I don’t know where to start.
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would just tell you what to do? Sometimes a boss or spouse will give guidance, but even then, there are still decisions that fall on you.
So how do you know what to do first? What makes one thing more important than another?
There are different factors that go into making these kinds of decisions, and they aren’t always the same. What’s urgent or important can change from day to day. Or what is important to one person may not carry the same weight for someone else.
Being productive comes down to good time management.
Focus is a big part of that, and prioritizing determines what you focus on first.
One productivity tool that can help is the Eisenhower Matrix. It sorts and prioritizes tasks based on two principles: urgency and importance. Once you assign these parameters to each task, you can place them in the relevant quadrant of the matrix, helping you decide what to do first.
The Eisenhower matrix is attributed to U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. With an extreme level of responsibility, he knew that he needed to keep his cool when making decisions. A quote that is said to belong to him states, “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.”
Being clear on what’s urgent or important—and what is neither—is a game changer.
We all have lists, whether it’s physical, digital, or floating around inside our heads. The key is having a clear way to determine the urgent and important things.
Different people do list differently. I’m a list maker for sure. I have lists of my lists. The way I do it is overwhelming to some people. No matter how you list your to-do items, it can be hard to decide what should be done first.
Unfortunately, too many times, you want to have the tasks on today’s list done yesterday. With that level of pressure, you can’t afford to simply flip a coin to decide what should be done first.
It’s not about how you list things; it’s about knowing yourself so you can prioritize.
Start with your WHY. Who are you? What is your purpose?
Here are four questions that can help guide you:
What makes you come alive?
What are your innate strengths?
Where do you add the greatest value?
How do you measure your life?
We all have a God-given purpose. It’s up to you to determine yours.
Once you’ve established your purpose, prioritizing becomes much clearer.
So what makes one thing urgent and another not? Or one thing more important than another?
For me, it comes down to my core values, deadlines, scheduled meetings, revenue, available time, customer satisfaction, goal achievement, and more.
I track all of these using my calendar, action list, and goal list. It’s about looking at the big picture, breaking it down into smaller pieces, and then sorting through those pieces in order of priority.
I can only do one thing at a time. So I ask myself: what will it be? Then I take the first next step.
Ultimately, like everything else in business, getting things done comes down to being intentional and taking action. The more you do it, the better you will get at it.
If you have a construction business and have trouble deciding what to do first, let me help you find a solution. I offer a free 30-minute consultation to help you BUILD your best business.
Another great way to be more productive is using a planning journal. This helps you learn from the past, look to the future, and live in the present. We’re currently in the process of designing a Planning Journal for Builders. This is a 90-day planner to help you BUILD your best life. If you would be interested in one, let us know in the comments below.
