Time Management and Prioritisation

Like the peanut butter and jelly, or shoes and socks, or marmite and cheese - these two ways of working go together, because what is effective time management if you don't use the time you have in the best way, what is the use of prioritising if you do not have any time to carry out the work? 

 1. Plan Ahead

Mapping out your day or week can help you mentally prepare. 

Create a list or check your calendar for what the day ahead holds and what you need to prepare for it. 

 2. Manage and utilise your energy levels

Your energy plays a huge part in when you're able to get through tasks quickly. 

 You may find that admin tasks are easier to complete in the morning and ones that need a creative output or problem solving are best completed after lunch, or the other way round. 

 Low demand tasks are great for a Monday morning waiting for the coffee to kick in, challenging tasks are great for a Tuesday and Wednesday. 

 Schedule meetings and interesting stuff for Thursday when your attention levels may be starting to decline. 

 Go for open-ended, long term planning and relationship building on a Friday to put you in the right frame for the weekend 

Make a note now and think about your week - journal when do you feel the most active and able to take on challenges. When do you need to get your head down and concentrate? 

 3. Work/Life Balance

• Rest and downtime is important to your physical and mental health. 
• Take a lunch break. 
•  Take screen breaks. 
•  Eat & drink. 
• If working from home move rooms, go out at lunchtime. 
• You will feel better pausing and returning to work 

 4. Prioritising - how to manage workload and hit your goals

• Effective prioritization is a dynamic process, and it requires practice and flexibility and you may need to adjust your priorities as new tasks and challenges arise. 
• Regularly reviewing and reevaluating your priorities will help you stay on track and make the most of your time and resources. You can do this by setting clear goals for yourself - Start by defining your short-term and long-term goals. 
• Knowing what you want to achieve will help you prioritize tasks that align with your objectives. 

Try the following:

• Make a To-Do List: Create a list of all the tasks and responsibilities you need to address. This can include work-related tasks, personal goals, and other commitments. 
• Categorize Tasks: Divide your tasks into categories based on their urgency and importance. 
• One common method is to use the Eisenhower Matrix, which categorizes tasks into four quadrants (see below for details)
• Time Management: Allocate your time wisely. Plan your day, week, or month, and allocate time blocks for specific tasks based on their priority. Stick to your schedule as much as possible. 
• Learn to Say No: Don't over commit yourself. 
• Politely decline new tasks or responsibilities that will overload your plate and prevent you from effectively completing your top priorities. 
• Adapt and Reevaluate: Priorities can change, so regularly reassess your tasks and adjust your priorities accordingly. 
• Use Technology and Tools: Utilise task management tools, to-do list apps, or project management software to help you keep track of your tasks and deadlines. 
• Avoid Multitasking: Focus on one task at a time, as multitasking can reduce your productivity and hinder effective prioritization. 

 5. Try this: 4 Ds of Time Management Do, Defer, Delegate, Drop.

• Do: work on an action that takes only a few minutes to complete. Focus on High-Impact Tasks: Concentrate on tasks that align with your long-term goals and have the potential to bring significant benefits. 
• Defer: Pause an activity that doesn't need to be done right now and schedule in a time to do it 
• Delegate: If you have tasks that can be delegated to others, consider doing so to free up your time for more important responsibilities. However the KEY rule of delegation does not mean your hands are washed of it, follow it up. It was yours, in someone else's eyes it is still yours. 
• Drop: remove the unnecessary from your life. Unsubscribe. Review your to-do list and identify tasks that may not be necessary or can be postponed to a later date. Sometimes, saying no to certain commitments is necessary. 

 6. Eisenhower Matrix

Eisenhower Matrix is also known as the time management matrix, the Eisenhower Box, and the urgent-important matrix. This tool helps you divide your tasks into four categories: the tasks you’ll do first, the tasks you’ll schedule for later, the tasks you’ll delegate, and the tasks you’ll delete. You can also use the method below to define your order

 7. Eat the Frog or ABCD method

1. Write your to do list down. Everything. Even writing this list 
2. Against the list you're now going to mark each item A B C D E 
3. A - very important and you have to do them now. Not doing so will have serious negative consequences for you, or your business, or someone else. 
4. B - Tasks that you should do. Return a non critical email or call. Never do a B when there's a A left to complete 
5. C - This is a nice to do but only if you have time, like lunch with a friend or social media catch up, doing your times mini crossword. These tasks don't effect your work, your goals and your mission however can lead to a good work life balance and therefore are just as important to keep on your list of priorities, but don't use them as an excuse not to deal with your As and Bs. 
6. D - Ones you can delegate so you can create time for the tasks only you can do. i.e. get your housemate to call the landlord instead of you / ask a team member to pick up some work. Delegation though does not resolve you from responsibility and it is still your task to ensure it is completed. 
7.  E - Eliminate. These are items that were important at one time but like Scooter Braun and TS old versions, are no longer relevant (2025 me would like to amend this), are just there for the sake of it. You'll find these tasks are usually the easiest to complete but have the least amount of impact for you and probably the business. Check in whether they are needed with yourself and your line manager and get rid of them. 
8. Now mark A with A1, A2, A3 with which one needs completing first, then do this for all the same. You have just created your order of priority and which one needs to happen first. 
9. Don't be worried if your As create more Bs and Cs - just add them to the list 

 8. Use technology to automate certain tasks

• Set up templates for frequent emails 
•  Set time in your calendar to remind you of tasks to complete and schedule time to do them 
• Use tools like Tasks or Planner on MS or Keep Notes in Google. 
•  Do some research - there are tools and equipment to help you!