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How To Prioritise Tasks Effectively – Get A Lot More Done! · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing how to prioritize tasks effectively is a daily challenge for all of us, and it becomes even more challenging once you have a team member to look after too.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: With an ever increasing list of tasks to do, requests coming in from left and right, and high expectations, it is easy for stress levels to rise and the to-do list to become overwhelming.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Learning how to prioritise tasks at work well can absolutely be a lifesaver.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Prioritizing tasks effectively will reduce the stress levels, give you back a feeling of control and effectiveness, even if you have a huge to-do list, and it will improve your productivity and time management.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: All great reasons to improve your task prioritization skills.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to take you through seven approaches that will really help when planning how to prioritize tasks effectively at work.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles and I've had a 25-year management career in Innocent Drinks, Fosters, EY, Peer Consulting, and many others.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone that wants to be effective at work will need to learn how to prioritise tasks.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Doing what is important and urgent for the team and the business benefit rather than putting what you like doing or what you're good at first.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: When I started work, I found it daunting to prioritise my own tasks as a graduate trainee at EY.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Trying different methods and lots of practice through the years allowed me to successfully prioritise my own work and that of dozens of people in a high pressure environment of business turnarounds.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: You will improve and get good with practice, just keep working at it.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this podcast, Enhance.training provides online business courses to help individuals improve their personal performance and that of the team and business.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And if you like this podcast, please share it with friends and colleagues.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start with the first approach when thinking about how to prioritise tasks effectively, and that is to align tasks with your longer term goal.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: One assumes that you've already created your to-do list and you've captured all the tasks that you or your team needs to do.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you've agreed objectives or longer-term goals with your manager, for example, you know, goals that will take you at least a month to achieve, then this can be a great place to start when trying to prioritize lots of different or competing tasks.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Prioritize the tasks that will help you achieve your objectives.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: You have been set objectives or agreed specific objectives with your manager for a reason.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: They are important to achieve for the business.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Prioritizing tasks that align or support you achieving your objectives contribute directly to the business success.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: A second approach to use when thinking about how to prioritize tasks at work is to break your task list down into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Start with the monthly tasks.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: The monthly tasks are typically more important or more complex tasks, hence the longer time frame.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Look at which weekly tasks flow from these monthly tasks and then which daily tasks flow from the weekly tasks you identified.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Start with the daily tasks that help you complete weekly and then obviously monthly tasks as well.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: You're focusing your efforts into achieving the tasks that are more likely to make a contribution to the business, and it helps you avoid the trap of doing lots of easy and quick tasks to reduce the length of your to-do list, but you may be focusing on the tasks which are less valuable.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: The third approach to use when thinking about how to prioritize tasks effectively is to categorize the tasks by their urgency and by their importance.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: When you have categorized your tasks, then a suggested approach for each category is first the urgent and important tasks.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Do these tasks as soon as possible.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Second, the important but not so urgent tasks.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Decide when you're actually going to do these.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Actually schedule it into your diary to make sure you do not forget about them.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Third, the urgent but not important tasks.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: If you can delegate these tasks to someone else or do these once the important tasks have been done.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, look at the tasks that are neither urgent nor important.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly put these at the back of the queue and if possible remove them from your to-do list and just don't do them.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Using this Eisenhower matrix can quickly bring much needed prioritization to your to-do list and helps you avoid doing lots of urgent but not very important tasks.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth approach to use when thinking about how to prioritize tasks effectively is to check how quickly you can do each of the tasks.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: When you're comparing equally important and urgent tasks, it can be very useful to then prioritize your tasks based on how quickly they can be achieved, or how many resources they might need to be completed, or how difficult or easy they are to actually complete.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Choose whichever approach is most important for the tasks you have on your list, and don't exclude other factors that are specific to your role or task list as well.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth approach to use when thinking about how to prioritize tasks effectively is to be disciplined and finish the first task before moving on to the second task.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: This may seem really obvious to many of you.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I can definitely say that I've been guilty of getting distracted or becoming bored with the task I'm doing or getting to barriers or problems and have given into the temptation to take a break and start another task.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I know this is pretty common.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: So don't give in to the temptation.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Finish the first task fully, get it off your to-do list, and then start on the second task, finish it, and so on.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: You will be more productive, make better use of your time and effort, and get more of the important tasks off your to-do list.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: The sixth approach to use when thinking about how to prioritize tasks effectively is to remain flexible and adaptable.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Always keep reviewing your task list and keep real prioritizing your tasks as new information becomes available or the situation changes.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Change is a factor business life.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: We have to be adaptable and flexible to deal with change to our advantage.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: So don't fall into the trap of I must finish this because I've started it.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: If the changing situation requires a different task prioritization or a revised task, then stop the original task and put your efforts into the new task.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, there's a lot of judgment needed when this type of situation arises.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can't allow yourself to be pulled in all directions and not complete anything.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: This would be disastrous.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, you can't be too rigid in your approach, which would be equally disastrous.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're really struggling to reprioritize or make these types of judgments, then ask your manager for help.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: The seventh approach to use when thinking about how to prioritize tasks effectively is to be realistic about what you can actually achieve in the time you have.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my to-do list rarely gets fully finished as items are added to it and other tasks drop off for various reasons.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you have similar challenges too.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And at some point you just have to stop, pack up and go home, and then come back the next day and start afresh.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Get to know when this point is for you and understand how much you can achieve in a given amount of time.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And having a set time limit will also focus you on achieving the tasks quickly or as quickly as you can.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Just remember you can't do everything, so you must focus on the most important items and make good inroads or complete these tasks.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: And you can't work 24 hours a day either.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: So work out the right balance for you and decide when you're gonna stop and then stop each day.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: You spend a lot of time at work, so it really does make sense that you keep work enjoyable overall.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: So do work out when you're gonna stop doing the tasks and head home.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, the seven approaches that we've taken you through are each very useful in how to prioritize tasks at work and are equally useful when thinking about how to prioritize tasks for my team, for instance.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Try out each of these approaches and work out which one or which combination works best for you.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Prioritizing tasks well will make a big difference to your working life, your enjoyment of work, and if you're managing a team, they're working life too.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: The perceived value of work that you do do should also increase in your manager's eyes, which will help you with promotions and getting more interesting projects, etc.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: So enjoy the feeling of being more on top of your work.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And if you like this podcast, please share it with friends and colleagues.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.