Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should…
Why you need to learn to be ruthless at prioritising your tasks
With a big deadline looming on my book, it has forced me to be ruthless about my priorities. For everything that comes in, I ask:
“Does it have to be done before 11th December?”.
If the answer is no, or not really, or even that I could negotiate a later date, it gets filed to be done after then and put out of my mind.
It got me thinking about how we prioritise our work, as failing to do so is a common cause of overwork and overwhelm….
Take a moment to think:
How do you decide what you say yes to? And what you say no to?
(Do you ever say no…?)How do you determine what is most important for you to do?
How do you decide the order in which you tackle tasks?
There are a couple of common habits that I come across around this.
The first is a tendency to say yes to too much, often feeling that we either can’t or shouldn’t say no. Frequently we realise soon after that we should have said no. However, we don’t relate to that as an option, so we simply suck it up and work harder or work longer.
The other common habit is to prioritise other people's requests above everything else. We do everything to avoid letting anyone else down, only to find that our own work has to be done at inconvenient times, or done when we aren’t at our best, so the quality suffers.
There are a few practical things that can help you improve your prioritisation.
One, ask yourself two questions:
Does it have to be me?
Does it have to be now?
Be brutally honest. If someone else can do it, it probably means they should be doing it.
And if it does have to be you, get really clear on when it needs to be done. If that’s not feasible with your current workload without some serious consequences, do the renegotiation now. Either on this request, or the others you already have on your slate.
Two, you can always renegotiate a yes. If you say yes in haste, then realise you actually can’t, sensibly, do it in the timeframe required, speak up. Negotiate the deadline. Look for additional support. Get creative to figure out how it could be done without it automatically being at the cost of your personal time.
And three, separate from the requests coming at you, take some time to think about what is really important for you to be working on. What actually are your priorities to do your job well? Put time in your calendar for those tasks before anything else, and as far as you possibly can, defend that time from all those who try and take it! It won’t always be possible, but the clearer you are about what is non-negotiable the more others will respect your boundaries.
Sweating the small stuff
This week: Get what you need for your emotions
Building on the suggestion in the last newsletter, when you are aware of an emotion that is affecting you, check in with yourself what you need and act. Whether that is a ten minute walk outside, or a glass of water, or simply ten deep breaths, do it. It’s far better to take action to reset yourself than to push through, because it will always leak out. And if that means rescheduling a call or delaying a meeting, then so be it. Better that than the unintended consequences of not handling it.
Let me know what you think! How do you get on with saying no? What are you willing to practise that’s different? Let me know in the comments below.
If you’ve enjoyed this, hit subscribe to receive my future posts direct to your inbox.
Or, please do share with friends, colleagues or anyone you think would enjoy this using the button below.
Image creator: jesadaphorn
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto