Time management: Take two - Priority

I’m returning to searching for common ground in sources, particularly bestseller books:

• "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey
• "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen
• "Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time" by Brian Tracy
• "Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World" by Cal Newport
• "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg

All of the books listed above touch on the topic of time management, productivity, and achieving goals. Although each author has their unique perspective, the books share some common advice, including setting goals, prioritizing tasks, and avoiding distractions. Here are one from the ideas that the books have in common:

- The importance of setting priorities: All five books emphasize that setting priorities is essential to effective time management. They suggest that you create a list of your most important tasks and focus on completing those before moving on to other less critical activities.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. /Stephen R. Covey/

It is hard to beat this saying. Covey expressed the essence of prioritization. But how we can properly set the priorities?

There are several approaches mentioned in a handful of the books I have listed. You can choose fear or stress as a guide and eat the frog. Or, you can collect everything and after mindful analysis, list the tasks sorted by priority in your GTD system. You can use quadrants of urgency and importance. In the end, it does not matter. The only thing that matters is what exactly you are spending your life on.

My personal belief is that even though you cannot stick to your plan 100%, if you have no set priorities, you will end up with random tasks being done. And if you have a plan but for some reason, you did not allocate time in your diary to perform it, what are the chances that you will make it happen? If you have priorities and time to do tough stuff, but you already lack energy, how will you perform? What can you do without resources, being people, materials or tools you need? Everyone who has dealt with any planning software knows all of that already; it's not novel. You need everything at once to perform and be on time. Everyone who run the projects without software knows that by heart.

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically, to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger yes burning inside. /Stephen R. Covey/

But everything still starts with priorities, with your bigger goals, with your vision of where you see yourself in 5, 10, or 25 years. So, how can an individual approach prioritization? Let me start with well known methods.

Eisenhower Matrix: This is a popular productivity technique that involves splitting tasks into four quadrants based on their urgency and importance. The four quadrants are:

   a. Urgent and important

   b. Important but not urgent

   c. Urgent but not important

   d. Not urgent and not important

The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management tool that helps individuals prioritize their tasks based on urgency and importance. The matrix is named after President Dwight Eisenhower, who was known for his exceptional time management skills.

The matrix is divided into four quadrants, each containing tasks that are classified based on their level of urgency and importance.

The first quadrant includes tasks that are both urgent and important, such as deadline-driven projects or emergency situations. These tasks should be prioritized and completed first.

The second quadrant includes tasks that are important but not urgent, such as long-term planning or relationship building. While these tasks don't require immediate attention, they are still crucial to the success of the individual or organization.

The third quadrant includes tasks that are urgent but not important, such as phone calls or emails. These tasks are often distractions and should be minimized or delegated whenever possible.

The fourth quadrant includes tasks that are neither urgent nor important, such as browsing social media or watching TV. These tasks are time-wasters and should be avoided or eliminated altogether.

ABC Analysis: This method involves categorizing tasks into three categories based on their importance: A (most important), B (important but less urgent), and C (least important).

ABC Analysis is one of the most effective tools used in time management, which helps individuals to prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency. This method ranks tasks in three categories, A, B, and C, based on their respective values.

Tasks under category "A" are the most important and urgent ones that require immediate attention, and they should be completed first to avoid any negative consequences. These tasks are usually time-sensitive and have significant consequences if not completed on time.

Tasks under category "B" are less critical than category "A" tasks, but they need to be completed soon. Focusing on category B-tasks after completing the A tasks will be a wise decision.

Tasks under category "C" are those that are time-wasting and can be easily postponed or even eliminated to save one's time. These tasks usually do not have a significant impact on one's success, and they can be put aside and completed later.

By prioritizing tasks into categories A, B, and C, individuals can effectively manage their time, avoid procrastination, and remain focused on the critical tasks to achieve personal and professional goals.

Pareto Analysis: This method, also known as the 80/20 rule, involves focusing on the 20% of tasks that will yield 80% of the results.

Pareto Analysis is a problem-solving technique used to determine the most significant causes of problems in a given process. This technique was developed by Italian economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of Italy's land was owned by 20% of its population. He proposed that this observation could be applied to many other areas, including business and industry, where 80% of problems are caused by 20% of the issues.

In Pareto Analysis, a team examines the cause-and-effect relationships between the different factors affecting a process. This can include the various steps in a production line, customer complaints, or sales figures. The team then identifies the most common causes of the problems, using a visual representation such as a Pareto chart.

A Pareto chart is a type of histogram that ranks the major contributors to a problem in order of importance. The chart displays the frequency and percentage of occurrences of each factor, as well as the cumulative percentage. It identifies the top 20% of factors that are responsible for 80% of the problems.

Once the root causes of the problems are identified, the team can take appropriate action to mitigate or eliminate these causes. The Pareto Analysis process helps organizations prioritize their efforts and focus their resources on the areas where they will have the greatest impact.

Value vs. Effort Analysis: This involves categorizing tasks based on the value they provide and the effort required to complete them. Tasks that provide high value with low effort should be prioritized.

Value vs. Effort Analysis is a time management strategy that involves prioritizing tasks and activities based on their value and effort required. This strategy can help individuals or organizations make informed decisions about how they allocate their time and resources.

In this analysis, "value" refers to the importance or significance of a task or project, while "effort" refers to the time, energy, or resources required to complete it. The goal of the analysis is to identify tasks that provide the most value relative to the effort required to complete them.

To perform a value vs. effort analysis, one can start by making a list of all tasks and activities that need to be completed. Then, for each task or activity, assign a numerical value (from 1-10) to represent its importance, and another numerical value (from 1-10) to represent the effort required to complete it.

Next, multiply each task's value by its effort to get a score. This score represents the task's overall value in relation to the amount of effort required. Tasks with the highest scores represent the most important and valuable activities, requiring less effort to complete.

Using the results of the value vs. effort analysis, individuals or organizations can prioritize their time and resources to focus on the most valuable activities while minimizing wasted effort on less important tasks. This strategy can lead to better time management, increased productivity, and greater success in achieving goals.

Scrum Methodology: This is an agile project management framework that involves breaking tasks into small, manageable parts and prioritizing them based on their importance and time sensitivity.

First Things First: This method, developed by Stephen Covey, involves prioritizing tasks based on their importance and urgency, and then scheduling them accordingly.

"First Things First" is a time management principle that suggests that you prioritize important tasks over urgent or less important ones. The idea behind this principle is that important tasks are those that contribute to your long-term goals and objectives, while urgent tasks are those that demand your immediate attention but may not necessarily be important.

By focusing on your important tasks first, you can ensure that you are making progress towards your priorities, rather than just reacting to whatever demands your attention in the moment. This approach helps you avoid feeling overwhelmed by urgent tasks and frees up mental energy to focus on what is truly important.

Prioritizing first things first requires you to identify what is important to you and establish clear goals and objectives. You must then organize your tasks and schedule your time in a way that allows you to tackle your most important tasks first. This approach can help you achieve greater productivity, achieve your goals, and ultimately feel more fulfilled in your work and personal life.

The key is to be mindful and strategic about how we spend our time. /Julie Morgenstern/

You can see that the methods often share the same qualities to make a judgment regarding priority. The main thing here is to assign proper value to the task. Please do not forget that the task that contributes to a long-term goal brings more value by default. Some frameworks help you keep that in mind, while others present a list where it is easy to become drawn in.

The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. /Stephen R. Covey/

The hints and tricks that help a person select proper tasks work differently for different people. This is why some of them choose Matrix, others prefer GTD, and some adopt the Scrum approach for personal use.

Instead of conclusion

My experience tells me that there isn't much of a difference between the listed systems. When I keep my goals in mind, any of them works well and makes me truly productive. If I lose sight of the higher goals, I exhaust myself with routine. Sometimes, being super efficient does not mean being productive. It depends on personal triggers that one may have. Some people may like visual representations and may recall them better, while others may prefer structure and outline. A third group may prefer physical arrangements.

I tried different methods when I was younger, and they worked for me... sort of.

Some were better for dealing with reminders and making my digital life easier, while others allow better focus. Generally, I would say that paper is much better if you need to keep focus. There are no reminders in your journal, and your pen cannot beep (hopefully).

There is another issue with a pen - if you have many tasks in your backlog, it's harder to find, analyze, and prioritize them. Although, maybe we don't need it. Some of us will be happier when sticking to one or two priority tasks for the whole month, quarter, or half-year.