What are some ways to prioritize?

I like to spend five minutes first thing in the morning to plan ahead for the day and write in my journal what things should be done during the day. Then I will re-order them based on their importance or urgency level, and commit to work on the list from top to bottom. It makes me feel really productive that I know I'm not just spending all of my time for a bunch of trivial stuff, and that I'm getting the important things done. At the end of the day, if I manage to finish all of the things in my list (I usually do, since this helps with time management) I feel a huge sense of satisfaction from it.

Draw up a list of everything you need to do, then reorder the list based on what is due when, with a subdivision being either easiest to hardest, or break larger tasks into pieces.

To do list, list of what is important then the to do list. Time management, and regardless of your priority always make sure you prioritize yourself in midst of everything.

Everyone is different. But there are ways you can go about trying to prioritize things. Such ways to start are taking baby steps and making lists of what you want vs. what you need. And take it from there.

[| Make a list - Make a list of your strengths, competencies and assets is a way of seeing a different you in the mirror.  [| Make a list II - A list of realistic and achievable goals and dreams, a list of what is keeping you from achieving it, and a list of methods to work around it and accomplish your goals.  [| Make a list III - Each morning make a list of the things you have achieved, it can be as simple as “Woke Up, Got out of Bed, Ate Breakfast etc.” - this will help you understand your accomplishments during the day and give yourself more credit for these small, influential feats.  Prioritise the jobs that have the closest deadlines, or require the greatest amount of work. When you're confident in your abilities and have a strong understanding of your project you will know how to decide which job is more important than the other..

Prioritizing is all about knowing what you really want and what you actually believe. It surely does involve confusion and questions within oneself. But taking time is one effective way because with time, many things become clearer by itself. Also you please don't be disheartened if you have to go through some trial and error process. After all, without failing and falling in some stages in life, none of us can grow, become better. :)

Prioritization presupposes an advantage to the ordering of items. Where no such advantage exists, order is inconsequential. Having said that, one prioritizes according to one's, well, priorities. Priorities are reflect one's values and objectives. So, if the driving force is time, then one prioritizes based on which tasks must be started if not completed ahead of other tasks or those requiring the most or the least amount of time. If the priority is risk avoidance, then one evaluates the relative risks - called risk analysis - among the choices and orders accordingly. The challenge comes when there are conflicting priorities. Then, one must first prioritize one's priorities before getting down to, er, prioritizing. If all this sounds too confusing or pointless, then perhaps someone else should be assigned the task of prioritizing. In a pinch, there's always "eeny meeny miny moe" or the Mother Goose "One potato, two potato..".

You can make a list, or write thing on a piece of paper. Things you find important, write them big, and other small. You can also do this with color.

Like what everyone else has suggested, I am a big fan of lists. The act of writing out a list and physically re-ordering it can help you organize your mind for the day. I also find that writing things down helps me remember things. Having that written list right there to look at can be a helpful reminder to help you manage your time. One of the best ways to prioritize is to figure out what tasks absolutely have to get done today/this morning and order those at the very top of the list. Then follow that with the tasks that need to be done tomorrow/this afternoon, followed by the tasks that are due by the end of the week/end of next week/by a certain deadline further into the future. You can also keep a side sub-category for personal to-do items that can be done on lunch or during down time. You can use different colors of ink or use a highlighter to denote the most important tasks. I also find it helpful to use outlook or similar computer program to provide visual reminder pop-ups 15 minutes-an hour prior to a meeting or other deadline. Again, I really like having things written out to help me remember. Cross off the items you complete as you finish. Looking at your list at the end of the day and remembering the amount of time and effort that went into each crossed-off item can help you feel a sense of accomplishment. There are various free programs you can download for your computer that will help you do the same things described above electronically as well.

According to "How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life" by Alan Lakein, make a list of everything you are thinking of doing or would like to do. Then categorize your list by A, B, and C. Where A tasks are the things you have or want to do first, and B tasks are less important and the C tasks are just the day to day routines. Be careful to re-prioritize your list from time to time. In Example: if taking out the garbage is a C task, but your wife says she will leave you if you don't do it, then you may want to bump that up to an A priority task.