Monday reflection: Choosing priorities

 

Thomas Edison is reported to have said that "Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing." 

Time management is something we all try to do, but so often our time is hijacked by other people's agendas. Sometimes we need to change what we planned but how does that make us feel, and if this happens every day every week we can feel more and more out of control? So are there some questions that we can ask of ourselves and others

• Mission alignment: Does this request align with our personal and organisational mission and long-term goals? - Forethought
• Define boundaries and ensure they are communicated effectively: Here is what we are focusing on today, this week, this month and this is why. Does this request/issue align with established priorities? If not can it be prioritised as 'not now' or id outside role and responsibility or mission boundaries, can it be prioritised as "never'? - Honest purpose
• Milestones: Goals can be complex and are often needing to be addressed with multiple tasks or activities. Progress to achieve the goal can be broken down into a number of milestones. This means that the priorities can focus on the more achievable milestones and progress is more visible and evident. Are we still on track, if not, why not? - System planning
• Flexibility: Be open to new ideas, new ways of doing, and new needs and demands which will change priorities and directions of travel towards the goal. Is there a better way we can achieve the mission and long-term goals? - Intelligence
• Opportunity Cost: What is the opportunity cost of changing priorities? If we do this what won't we be able to do? - Intelligence
• Impact: prioritise actions that deliver to the mission and goals and give meaningful results. Minimise activities that are not impact focused e.g. meetings, emails, update requests. Focus time and energy on what matters and make time for quiet reflection to drive effectiveness - Perspiration

Ask for clarification when needed especially if organisational goals are refined or realigned, think about your day - what proportion of your time is spent doing 'real work'? How can you modify your day to be more effective and do rather than seeming to do? So is it critical, urgent, pressing, or nice to have?

• Critical - next hour 
• Urgent - today 
• Pressing - this week 
• Soon - let's think about it