Everyone should be familiar with the cliché "so much to do, so little time." And all of us have experienced days at work where we just seem to get bogged down by the number of things that are on our plate.
Well the authors of the book "Thriving in the Workplace All-in-One For Dummies" have provided some hints on how we can prioritize our tasks, so we can get accomplished what needs to be done. They noted that prioritizing tasks is the key to successful time management.
Here are their "five steps to a more productive workday:"
First, they recommend starting with a master list. Everything that must be done needs to be written down. "Don't rank the items at this point. Be sure to include routine duties" on your list, adding it is the so-called "humdrum" items that can disrupt one's schedule.
The next step is to determine which tasks are the top priority ones. These are the things that will have significant consequences if they are not done today.
Then you should categorize the rest of the tasks. The authors use the following:
B-level tasks: Activities that may have a mildly negative consequence if not completed today.
C-level tasks: Activities that have no penalty if not completed today.
D-level tasks: D is for delegate. These are actions that someone else can take on.
E-level tasks: Tasks that could be eliminated. Don't even bother writing an E next to them-just mark them out completely.
Then rank the task within each category to prioritize them. Finally repeat the process every day, as some tasks become more important at that time, while others fall down the list.
