How to Choose Your Priorities
Have you ever wondered about how to choose your priorities in a way that leads to an effective and happy life? It’s been on my mind lately as we’re moving into fall and getting back to a more normal routine. How can we choose our priorities in a way that helps us meet our goals?
Choosing Our Priorities Wisely
Choosing our priorities wisely can make such a difference not only in the pace of our lives but also in the goals we set. So how do we choose these priorities?
I was recently reading an article about habits of successful people and my main takeaway is that effective and successful people say no to almost everything. I know that I feel the pressure to be involved and to care about too many things. It’s amazing to hear that to live a successful life is to say no. We must decide what is most important to us and choose those goals over other competing priorities.
Writing down our priorities is important. Our life can’t just be a “to do” list. We need to ask ourselves what we really want from our lives. Is it success in our job, in a relationship, a hobby or health goal? This looks different for each of us and it’s so easy to get distracted by the “noise” from others. This noise can be good things, but things that are not truly important to us. We need to choose wisely so that we don’t miss out on the things that are most important to us.
Not Everything is a Priority
Not everything is a priority. It is something that I need to constantly remind myself as I’m working. Now that I am back in the work force, I’ve realized that when I’m given 10 tasks with time to maybe do 3 or 4 tasks, I have to choose priorities. I must clarify with those I am working with what the actual priorities are.
It’s easy to say that everything is a priority, but by saying that, then truly nothing is a priority. It’s important that we set priorities in our lives otherwise we will be doing too much with too little time. One thing I’ve realized is that I need to go at my own pace, in other words, going slow. This does not always meet the expectations of others. But we need to realize that there are unrealistic expectations are all around us. A way of showing self-care and kindness to ourselves is through setting priorities. By giving ourselves time to do things well, to enjoy the process and to take care of ourselves.
Setting Priorities
I have found by establishing priorities at work, my relationships with my coworkers are healthier. When I’m assigned new tasks, I ask questions including what the priority is. By working with others to set priorities, it helps me to create good boundaries in my life. Instead of feeling stressed and rushed, I work through the priorities one at a time. The result is now when I get assigned new tasks I’m often told the priority without asking. It’s a great way to show boundaries, to show that I am interested in making things better, but on my own terms.
Setting Priorities at Home
I find it more challenging to set priorities at home than I do at work. Perhaps it’s because I care more about my home life. There are so many things that I want to do at home and it never feels like there is enough time. I believe it takes more discipline to set priorities at home. Sometimes it means missing out on something you really wanted to do, it sometimes mean not getting your to do list done. Life happens and things come up. By prioritizing and sharing these priorities with our loved ones, we can have a home life that is not only manageable but is relaxing and enjoyable.
Understanding How Long Things Really Take
Understanding how long things really take can be helpful when setting priorities. I usually underestimate how long a task will take, and as a result I tend to fill my schedule with too many tasks. I often end up frustrated because I am not as efficient as I expect myself to be.
I started to realize this fact last summer when I took a job at a golf course. Being an avid gardener I decided to work as a horticulturalist at a golf course to learn some new skills. I quickly realized that things took way longer than I thought. Over the summer we were planting and caring for thousands of plants and I started to get an understanding on how much I tend to underestimate my time.
I have a beautiful garden but was often hard on myself that it wasn’t always immaculate. After working at the golf course, I realized the reason why my garden wasn’t perfect all the time. It was because I wasn’t outside working on it 8 hours a day. Instead of believing that I wasn’t working hard or fast enough, I realized that gardening took more time than I could realistically devote to it.
Tools for Tracking Time
Tools for tracking time are a great aid for setting realistic priorities. I am terrible at judging how long things take, so I have started using an app called Toggl for tracking my time. What I love about this tool is that you can track anything. You put in a description and hit start. What I also like about this tool is that you can create projects to group activities together. It’s a great tool for understanding how long things really take.
I also use a day planner for planning my week. It’s a useful tool for being able to plan out my time. When I use it in conjunction with Toggl it helps me set reasonable priorities in a given week. By understanding where my time goes and how long things take, I go from a place of frustration to one of empowerment.
Realistic Expectations
By having realistic expectations around priorities and time management, I use my time more wisely. Instead of feeling frustrated or stressed about how long things take, I realize that I will have to choose between tasks. I can’t get everything done all the time, so I need to set priorities. To choose what is important to me and leave the rest. By showing kindness to ourselves in this way, we choose what is important and adjust our expectations accordingly.
How About You?
How about you? How do you choose your priorities to find balance in your life? I would love to hear about it. Feel free to contact me directly or leave a comment below.
