We all understand that priorities are important. If we lived in a perfect world, we'd prefer to engage in high value tasks all the time but this doesn't always happen. It's not the understanding of the need to prioritize that blocks us from getting things done--but often its the unimportant things that stand in our way. I want to give you 5 quick tips that can help anyone stay on task and make the best of their day.
Tip #1 - Write It Down
Often times, we have a general idea about who and what are priorities are but not a complete picture. Writing down the things we NEED to get done versus the things we WANT to get done on a piece of paper could make all the difference. Habakkuk 2:2 says, "Write the vision and make it plain". Visualizing your tasks on paper, helps you quantify what is really important and what is not that important to complete.
Tip #2 - Use a Check List
Nothing is more gratifying to the soul than checking items off a checklist. I know it is like that for me. I feel so accomplished when, I see things on my To Do List get marked off. There are features on most cell phones and plenty of apps which offer easy ways to create lists. This list can be created right before we go to bed or as a part of our morning routine with our cup of coffee at breakfast.
Tip #3 - Break Larger Tasks Into Smaller Tasks
We are naturally wired to gravitate towards things that are easier to do in our environment. This is why scrolling on social media get so much of our attention and time. Breaking large tasks down into smaller ones helps us not become overwhelmed and keeps it easy. Also, it encourages us to knock things off our check list in incremental steps which helps get us closer to reaching our larger goal.
Tip #4 - Block Off Your Time
We only get 24 hours in a day, so you want to make the best of it. 24 hours seems like a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but when you start subtracting tasks like sleep, driving, working, or child rearing to the equation--the time blocks shrink. Your waking hours should be accounted for as if they are money in the bank. Blocking off your time, serves as a budget system where time on high priorities and things that matter are spent.
Tip #5 - Use a Day Planner
Lastly, use a day planner. Time blocking is so much easier when you have a nice planner with days, weeks, and months listed clearly in front of you. Some of the best planners have two pages dedicated to an entire week with the hours in a day listed. I favor this type of planner for the simple fact, it helps with time blocking so your important priorities get done. As the old saying goes, "if you fail to plan to plan to fail".
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Your purpose is important and sometimes, a tweak or two is all that is needed to help stay the course on your journey. To learn more about your identity and purpose please pick up your copy of Identity Crisis here. Buy Now at www.uniquelypurposed.org.
If you have any other tips for managing priorities or if you found this information helpful, please comment below.