How to Prioritize Like a Pro In a World of Distractions

In a world filled with constant demands and distractions, with limited time and numerous distractions like your phone and an endless stream of emails, the ability to identify and focus on what truly matters is a necessary skill if you ever hope to finish your task list on time. In this article, we’ll explore effective strategies and techniques to help you prioritize tasks, responsibilities, and goals amidst a sea of distractions. 

Define what success looks like 

The foundation of effective prioritization lies in gaining clarity on what you’re working towards. Reflect on your long-term aspirations and how what you’re doing right now affects them. Is spending your lunch break scrolling on Instagram serving you in the long-term, or would that time be better spent elsewhere? That’s not a sarcastic question either – there should always be room in your day to enjoy yourself, but checking your behavior against your goals can help you avoid spending all your free time on instant gratification.  

Essentially, knowing what success looks like can give you the internal moderation tools you need to reach those goals faster. 

Assess the urgency of your tasks 

The next step on your prioritization journey is ranking your tasks in order of urgency. Of course, this is easier said than done, but there are simple, quantitative ways to organize your task list. Many people subscribe to the Eisenhower Matrix, which breaks tasks down into four categories: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, or neither urgent nor important. This is pinning the most relevant aspects of your tasks against one another; is that important email to the client time-sensitive, or can it wait until the end of the day so you can finish the EOD report that’s been sitting open on your desktop? And do you need to make those dinner reservations now so they don’t book up, or will that get in the way of finishing the report? 

Life is complicated, and it’s not always simple determining which tasks need to be done in what order. But with these two aspects of the task established, you can make informed decisions about what to do about each task – prioritize it, delegate it, or ignore it. 

Manage your time effectively 

Time management is, of course, an asset when determining how many tasks you can realistically get done over a certain period of time. By utilizing your working time effectively, you can clear off your list of urgent tasks faster, leaving you more time to relax, to focus on non-urgent things, or to get a head-start on tomorrow’s task list. 

Effective time management isn’t just cramming as much in as possible, which almost always results in shoddy work that you’ll likely have to spend even more time redoing, but rather in accurately assessing how long it takes you to do all of the tasks you want to accomplish. Consider tracking your productivity across a week by jotting down the length of time each task took you to do. Consider noting the time of day you completed each task as well, and the times of day when you were struggling to be productive. This will give you a rough skeleton of your average productivity in a week, as well as help you track when you’re least productive (hint: it’s probably at the end of the average workday). This will help you determine how many tasks you can expect to complete in an average week moving forward. 

Learn to say no 

Prioritization often involves making tough decisions, and one of the most challenging aspects is learning to say no. Acknowledge that it’s impossible to do everything and be willing to decline requests or opportunities that don’t align with your priorities. Saying no to non-essential commitments creates space and time for what truly matters, ensuring you remain focused on your goals. 

It’s important to note that you shouldn’t always be saying “no” to social obligations in favor of professional ones. Having well-defined work boundaries will allow you to disconnect from work when necessary, which is essential for maintaining a healthy relationship with your job and avoiding resentment. Who wants to work somewhere that constantly makes them miss girl’s night with the boys, or boy’s night with the girls? Knowing your limits and your preferences is just as important as staying productive while you’re working. 

Conclusion 

Prioritization and productivity are inherently personal things. No one can tell you exactly how to be the most productive, but there are patterns in human behavior that can be useful guidelines for you to jump off of. 

What’s distinctly not human in its productivity is artificial intelligence. (Masterful segue.) AI scheduling assistants like Woosender and B2B Rocket pick up the slack by nurturing up to 10,000 prospects in 3 months, narrowing that list down to just the most interested prospects that want to book an appointment with you. No more cold-calling 100 people in a day – now you’re picking up the phone for people that are already interested in your product. Now that’s productivity. 

Speak with a 1GS agent today to learn more about our AI scheduling assistant services.