Habit One: Prioritization

"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."

-Benjamin Franklin

A well-known professor at a university is giving a pre-exam lecture on time management.  On his desk is a bag of sand, a bag of pebbles, some big rocks and a bucket.  After introducing his items to the class he asks for a volunteer to come forward and place all three smaller items into the bucket.   One of his clever students duly steps up to carry out the task, starting with the sand, then the pebbles, then the rocks, which do not all fit in the bucket.

"This is an analogy of poor time management," declares the lecturer, "If you'd have put the rocks in first, then the pebbles, then the sand, all three would have fit. This is much like time management, in that by completing your biggest tasks first, you leave room to complete your medium tasks, then your smaller ones. By completing your smallest tasks first you spend so much time on them you leave yourself unable to complete either medium or large tasks satisfactorily.”

The lecturer then re-fills the bucket, big rocks first, then pebbles, then sand, shaking the bucket between each so that everything fits.

Unfortunately I can’t lay claim to the above analogy but I think it’s a strong illustration.  Often times making your day fit into your finite schedule can seem like a Herculean task.  While you toil away at a sluggish pace with your output, your inbox continues to grow faster than the national debt.  It’s not a matter of working harder; it’s a matter of working smarter.   An easy way to overcome this is to be prepared and simply make yourself a list of priorities starting with the largest matters first and working your way to the smallest.

Prioritizing your tasks for the day or week removes what I like to call activity anxiety.  That feeling you get at night when you’re trying to fall asleep but unable because of an uneasiness thinking that you are forgetting something very important.  As I relate this article to Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, making a priority list helps you become what Stephen calls being proactive instead of reactive.   You’re choosing to act rather than be acted on. 

So when do you plan?  Making a plan as early as possible is the key to taking advantage of what limited time we are given.   Remember, there is no such thing as “extra time”.  Don’t tell yourself you will do it when you get an extra minute or two.   Take thirty minutes at the end of your day and make a plan for tomorrow.   Again, be proactive, remove your activity anxiety and be free to relax with a clear mind once you get home, ensuring you will be fresh to tackle any items on your list the next day.