•Make a List: First thing in the morning, write down everything that needs to get done that day. Once you have everything down, separate the items into urgent vs. non-urgent to determine the top priorities for that day. Doing this every day will not only help you organize your day but it will free up time so that you don’t find yourself rushing around all day thinking what you should do next
•Assess the Value: Completing certain tasks will offer more benefit than others. For example, completing the harder tasks early in the day while you are full of energy will make it easier to complete the smaller tasks as your day begins to settle.
•Be Honest: When creating your list of priorities, be realistic about your ability. Setting unattainable goals will only cause disappointment down the road. Learning to say no to certain people, places and things will help in this process and free up more time as well as mental peace.
•Be Flexible: To be able to effectively prioritize, you must be able to deal with changing priorities. Take them as they come and decide if they are urgent or not. It shouldn’t take much thought to realize what is truly urgent and what is simply slowing you down.
•Cut the Cord: When something is really important, it’s easy to get caught up in the details and end up spending way too much time on a project or task. Spending too much time on one priority, however, prevents you from getting other stuff knocked off your list. Acknowledge when you’re doing this and enforce strict deadlines to prevent yourself from wasting more time on a task then truly needed.