The Procrastination Cure: 21 Proven Tactics For Conquering Your Inner Procrastinator, Mastering Your Time, And Boosting Your Productivity! by Damon Zahariades

Author:Damon Zahariades [Zahariades, Damon]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: ArtOfProductivity.com
Published: 2017-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

Tactic #5: Prioritize Tasks And Projects

Some tasks have massive impact. They move the needle in terms of our marriages, careers, income, and other aspects of our lives. Other tasks seem important, but actually have little impact on us. They have minimal lasting effect.

When our priorities are vague, or we’ve prioritized tasks improperly, we end up spending our limited time on the wrong things. The small, inconsequential tasks capture our attention while the larger, more important - and often more difficult - tasks get placed on the back burner.

This happens by way of procrastination. We delay taking action on big items by focusing on smaller, easier ones.

For example, we postpone preparing a big presentation at our job in favor of decluttering our workspace. We delay going to the gym, and instead check our email and return friends’ calls. We put off cleaning our houses, choosing instead to shop for gifts for an upcoming birthday party.

In other words, we procrastinate on the big stuff by focusing our attention on the small stuff. We feel like we’re getting a lot done, but our important work goes unaddressed.

The solution is to reprioritize the items on your to-do list. Get clear on which tasks are crucial, which are not, and why. Distinguish those that move the needle from those that don’t.

There are lots of ways to prioritize tasks. Some people use numbers that range from one to five. “One” signifies a high priority while “five” signifies a low priority. Other folks prefer to use the letters A, B, and C. Still others keep their to-do lists online, and use their respective apps’ prioritization feature.

I’m in this latter camp. I use Todoist,[1] which allows me to prioritize tasks with three differently-colored flags (red, orange, and yellow).

The method of prioritization is less important than the practice. Whether you use numbers, letters, or some other device doesn’t matter. What matters is that you develop the habit of prioritizing each task that appears on your to-do list, and do so in a way that reflects your goals.

This is an important habit regardless of whether you’re an executive, entrepreneur, freelancer, stay-at-home parent, or college student. It’s how successful people in all walks of life get things done.

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