Do you feel like most of your day is filled with tasks that you’re putting off or little details that demand your attention? Most people struggle to manage their time and focus on the priorities. How can we get more efficient at work so we can stop feeling constantly busy and start feeling productive again? Humility is a stranger to most of us, but it has a lot to offer in this case. When we’re humble, we know what our strengths are not our weaknesses. We acknowledge that there are things that other people know better than us. We also accept that there are things that other people do better than us. And finally, we recognize that there are things that other people can do better than us and should therefore take priority over us doing them.
Stop Doing Tasks You’re Not Good At Or Don’t Enjoy
One of the simplest ways to ruthlessly prioritize is by deciding which tasks you’re no longer going to do. If there are areas of your job where you feel incompetent, don’t have any training, or simply don’t have the time or inclination to become an expert, then stop doing them. This doesn’t mean that you should stop helping your colleagues. That breeds resentment and damages those relationships. It’s simply a matter of stopping yourself from taking on tasks that you have no business doing in the first place. If you’re not good at customer service, don’t do it. That’s what your customer service team is for. If you don’t like cleaning, don’t do it. That’s what your housekeeping team is for. If you don’t like writing marketing copy, don’t write it. That’s what your marketing team is for. The less you try to do, the more time and energy you have for the things you’re actually good at.
Block Out Time to Focus on the Tasks That Matter
The most important thing you can do to ruthlessly prioritize is to block out time for the tasks that matter. You might be wondering what the difference is between using humility to ruthlessly prioritize and just being a disciplined person. The difference is that disciplined people know they have to set time aside for certain tasks. They know they have to prioritize. They understand that time is finite. What they don’t do, however, is use humility to ruthlessly prioritize. They don’t acknowledge their weaknesses and they don’t follow the advice of others who are better than them at certain tasks. Humility is crucial because it forces you to understand your strengths and weaknesses. When you acknowledge that there are things that other people do better than you, then you open up the space for them to do those things. What you’re left with is only the things that you do better than anyone else.
Ask Yourself Important Questions Before You Start Working
In order to ruthlessly prioritize, you also need to ask yourself a series of important questions before you start working. This will help you identify the tasks that matter and should therefore be given priority over all the other tasks that are vying for your attention. What are you working towards? Where do you want to be in a year’s time? What does success look like for you? What are your company’s goals? What are your manager’s goals? What are the goals of your team? What are the goals of your closest colleagues? You can’t do anything useful until you know why you’re doing it.
Estimate How Much Time a Task Will Take
Finally, ruthlessly prioritize by estimating how long a task will take. Sometimes, you’ll want to ruthlessly prioritize tasks that matter even if they don’t take as long as you think they will. This is when you ruthlessly prioritize based on estimated time. You might want to ruthlessly prioritize calling a client or attending an important meeting even though it only takes 30 minutes. Why? Because it’s in your long-term interest to maintain a healthy relationship with that client. It’s in your long-term interest to be at that meeting and hear the information discussed. You can ruthlessly prioritize tasks by using estimated time in one of two ways. You can ruthlessly prioritize tasks based on a standard amount of time. For example, you might ruthlessly prioritize emails that take less than five minutes to reply to. You can ruthlessly prioritize tasks based on how long they take compared to other tasks. For example, you might ruthlessly prioritize emails that take less than the amount of time it takes to drive to work.
Summing Up
You can’t afford to keep doing the same old things you’ve always done. You can’t afford to keep doing things that don’t help you achieve your goals. You can’t afford to keep doing things that sap your energy. You can’t afford to keep doing things that are a constant source of stress and anxiety. You can’t afford to keep doing things that prevent you from moving forward. You can’t afford to keep doing things that keep you from being productive. You can’t afford to keep doing things that prevent your talents and skills from being used to their fullest potential. You can’t afford to keep doing things that prevent you from being happy. You have to ruthlessly prioritize.