Techniques for Setting Priorities

Now that you have realized the importance of effective time management, the next step is to take tangible steps towards managing yourself and your time better. 

Importance of Planning & Prioritizing

If you analyze your daily routine, you will conclude that both the home and office make plenty of demands on your time. In between meetings, presentations, and deadlines, it often becomes impossible to fit in some of the other important things you may want to do such as attending your child's play or musical performance at school etc.

Did you ever sit back and think "Where am I going wrong?"

The act of planning and prioritizing are the two pre requisites of proper Time Management. Make it a habit to plan and maintain a "to-do" list which mentions all the tasks that you want to accomplish. Next, go over the list and rearrange it based on your priorities by asking yourself - "Should this be done today?"  & "Can this wait till tomorrow?" 

The common Techniques used for Setting Priorities include ABC Analysis, Pareto Analysis and Fit.

1. ABC Analysis refers to the age old technique of grouping large amounts of data into categories namely A, B & C. Activities which rank the highest in priority are put into group A while those with the lowest priority fall in group C. Used extensively in business management, the ABC Analysis technique of setting priorities can be used together with the Pareto Analysis.

2. Pareto Analysis is the statistical technique used to divide all the tasks that have to be accomplished into 2 categories. The first category includes 80% of the tasks that can be completed in 20% of the total available time and the second category includes 20% of the tasks that can be finished in 80% of the time. The technique is based on the Pareto Principle which talks about the 80-20 rule of increased productivity - that by doing 20% of work effectively, you can generate 80% of the advantage of doing the entire job - (these tasks are thus, given higher priority).

3. Fit.  Fit can be defined as the act of fitting in a task with regard to its location & investment of time with the various resources that may be available at a particular point in time. The concept is of including or fitting in the most appropriate task in between a gap in one's schedule.

Remember: there is a fine line between what is urgent and what is important. In our attempt to accomplish urgent tasks, we often ignore those activities which are of utmost importance hence, it is imperative to define your priorities well so that you can focus on both the important and the urgent.