The Art of Prioritisation

I was 2 months into my first Advertising job when I was pulled aside by my manager.

‘You looked frazzled. Pull yourself together!’, she said.

I stood there, with the pit of oncoming tears sinking into my stomach, and explained just how much I had on. With four Account Managers to juggle, my workload had escalated from busy to extreme, and frankly - yes, I was completely frazzled.

‘Well the work isn’t diminishing anytime soon, so here’s how to do it all’

And quite literally, she sat me down and taught me the most valuable lesson I’ve been given in my professional life - prioritisation, with the added bonus of time and expectation management.

You see, I am a ‘Yes’ person who used to rarely ask questions. If a task was given to me, I would say YES and off to my desk I would go to add it to the pile. What I never knew was that asking questions would empower my ability to do all of that work, plus more.

Here are the keys to prioritisation success, and how you can do it all (almost).

LEARN THE VALUE OF EACH TASK

In whatever you are doing - whether it is your corporate office role or the housework - it is important to know the value of each task that needs to be done, in order to then prioritise.

For example, you know that getting that urgent proposal sent to your CEO is more important than ordering the sandwiches for the conference meeting in five days time. Or doing the laundry might be more important than washing the windows this week. Recognising the value in each task for yourself and for the others around you, will get you on the right track to start with.

MAKE A LIST

Collate all of your tasks into a list, from most important to least. I personally like to physically write down a list to have in front of me, that I can check off throughout the day. It keeps me focused and relieves the stress of not remembering something.

The important this about this list though, is that is has to be flexible. When a new task is thrown your way, it’s essential to evaluate it’s importance or urgency straight away and then place it within your existing list. If you’re busy, this will make your day fairly unpredictable, but you will know that each task is being completed when it needs to be.

IF IT WILL TAKE LESS THAN A MINUTE, DO IT STRAIGHT AWAY

It’s easy to get bogged down in the small stuff when you have a hectic day ahead. To alleviate this, it’s sometimes a lot more helpful to just not add the task to the list at all, but get it over and done with!

When given a small task - change the paper in the printer, or fetch the manager a red pen - get it over and done with straight away! It gets it out of your life and out of your worries!

SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

When you’re in charge of managing or supporting a team, your workload affects everyone. To ensure that everyone is on the same playing field, and that communication is open about how your are going for the day, set realistic time expectations.

Whenever someone asks me to do anything - literally anything - the first thing I ask them back is ‘When do you need this done by’ or ‘What is my deadline for this’. This straight away allows for you to hear what their expectations are on the value of this task.

From their answer, you can evaluate if that’s possible with the rest of your workload. If it is, simply say ‘No worries!’ and get on with it; but if your workload simply does not allow for that, explain to them why.

Eg. ‘With my current workflow, I don’t think I’m going to be able to do that by your deadline. Is there any flexibility in this, or are we able to negotiate my previously given deadlines of other tasks to ensure this is done?’

That person then understands why you have reservations about their task, and can either compromise on their deadline, or negotiate with others to see their request higher on your To Do list.

KEEP COMMUNICATING

It’s important to keep your team aware of your workload and what you have on day-to-day. This doesn’t mean you have a permission to complain or brag the house down, but staying silent won’t do you any favours. Don’t be a hero!

With a Can-Do attitude, communicating your workload and deadlines to those around you will keep them across how you are going.