Focus your efforts, gain impact and win back your time
Three steps to effective prioritization as we return to “normality”
“What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.” — Dwight Eisenhower
This past few months I have felt the impact of the move from lockdown to a fully immersed social and professional life once more. More people are vaccinated, social events and travel are resuming, and it feels like we went from zero to 100% overnight.
Of course, it is a good thing that we are getting some semblance of normality back in our lives, but the impact on our time and energy cannot be understated.
Going from working in my own home, rolling out of bed, and working at my desk with little interruption and a steady rhythm naturally falling into place, to booking lunches, travelling to meetings, and spending time in social situations personally and professionally has cut my value-added work time to 50%.
It has been quite a challenge to my time, efficiency, and ultimately my priorities.
So, I find myself turning to two tools used in tandem to help me win my time back. The Pareto Principle and the Urgent/Important Matrix.
For some these are familiar tools, for others, they are new tools. I find myself revisiting them to ensure that I make time for the work that moves my business forward, so I can prioritize my days by proactively blocking time for the tasks I know will push me and my business forward.
Often we say, “but I don’t have time” for yet another activity, even one that is meant to help us, yet taking two hours to fill in a matrix and complete an activity, might actually save us two hours of time a day in the long run. It does for me.
That is why I am sharing my process in the hopes that it may help others who feel like implementing a self-imposed lockdown just to win their time back!
FIRST STEP: TASKS & ACTIVITIES
Start simple and list every single task you must accomplish in a given week.
- Think of all the projects you have on the go, list them
- Think of all the meetings you have to attend, list them
- Think of all the administration you must complete, list them
Include emails, phone calls, lunches, everything! There are more than you think and they are likely far removed from each other, which will make the analysis much easier as you know which tasks are for you and which are tasks you complete are for others.
The next step is to analyze it through an intrapreneurial lens.
SECOND STEP: PARETO PRINCIPLE
“For many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.” — Pareto
The Pareto Principle is the theory that 20% of activity leads to 80% of output. Often referred to as the 80–20 rule. This is by far the best tool to understand which of the activities and tasks you just listed actually get you the most results.
Consider the following examples to gain perspective
- Microsoft noted that by fixing the top 20% of the most-reported bugs, 80% of the related errors and crashes in a given system would be eliminated!
- 20% of the exercises and habits have 80% of the impact on athletic training
- 20% of the hazards account for 80% of the injuries in occupational health
- 20% of criminals commit 80% of crimes
- 20% of drivers cause 80% of all traffic accidents
- 20% of a companies products represent 80% of sales
- 20% of employees are responsible for 80% of the results
- …and so on and so on and so on
Are you aware of which 20% of your tasks lead to 80% of your results? Or are you giving energy where it doesn’t lead to output?
QUICK WIN > Email elimination
We often gain false and rather absurd satisfaction that we’ve achieved something when we go through emails and clear out our inboxes, but what are we really accomplishing? If we unsubscribed from useless info or info we will never read anyway, we’d save ourselves at least 10 minutes every morning! Click “unsubscribe” — and trust me — you weren’t going to read it later anyway!
SUSTAINABLE WIN > Email action
Most of us start our days by checking our inboxes, but emails are often other people making demands on our time.
Take a moment and check your inbox, how many of the emails there are “update” emails? Or sent to you in cc, i.e. “just so you know” or “so I cover my arse”? How many emails do we get as “updates” on a status that hasn’t changed? I am guessing half the inbox are emails that do not push your work forward.
Now take a deeper look at the emails and see who it is you are helping. How many of the emails left required action? How many of those emails are actions required for others? How many of those action emails are colleagues asking for a favour? How many are from people who need your help to get their job done?
When we start the day with emails we are already distracted from the value-add work we could be doing to push our own projects forward. Sure, sometimes the emails might be responses or information that help us but they also distract us from the tasks at hand.
Take back your time
Do our own work before starting someone else’s work. How much would we achieve if we didn’t have emails to reply to, send in cc, or “clear”? And it is not just email, it’s all the tasks that are never-ending sitting on our desks.
Of course, you cannot eliminate all the administration that is required in the daily course of business, or the meetings with your teams and bosses you must attend but you can ensure you start your day focused on the tasks that bring the most return by scheduling two hours every morning for your most important 20% of work.
Now, what do you do with the other 80% of the tasks? That is where the Eisenhower Matrix comes into play.
THIRD STEP: URGENT VS. IMPORTANT
“Our greatest danger in life is permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important” — Charles Himmel
By now you have prioritized your work by blocking two hours of time for your tasks, where you will not do other people’s work, but it is time to see what else you can clear from your desk.
Time to take a hard, deep look at what you have on your desk and what you should have delegated or eliminated a long time ago.
Break the activities and tasks identified in STEP ONE into the following categories:
- Urgent > Deadline is imminent, must be completed
- Not Urgent > Preparation and planning required
- Important > Pressing problems, new opportunities, relationship building
- Not Important > Interruptions, emails, calls, meetings, “busy” work
Now bucket them in the matrix:
Urgent + Important | Action: “DO IT NOW”
These are the most critical tasks, really critical I mean, not because someone says they are! Do you need to call that customer back this morning? Or submit that proposal before 10:00?
Do the most urgent/important things by scheduling the time prior to the deadline to ensure they are done and block your calendar so nothing distracts you.
Not Urgent + Important | Action: “SCHEDULE A TIME TO DO IT”
This is where I would bucket your 20% of tasks identified in the Pareto Principle, they come first and foremost as they are the long-term win for your role and your development. Do they drive your business or project forward? Do they require your undivided attention?
Do the top 3 tasks first thing before you check other emails and schedule your first two hours of the day to complete them and block your calendar.
Urgent + Unimportant | Action: “FIND SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR YOU”
Is this easy? No, of course not. For instance, maybe you don’t have anyone to delegate to, but then consider deleting it, or letting the team know “hey please don’t cc me or invite me to meetings unless absolutely crucial for me to know or give insights.”
If you are an entrepreneur, consider finding freelancers to help with tasks you are not an expert in, i.e. design, social media, email campaigns, communications, etc.
Not Urgent + Unimportant | Action: “ELIMINATE IT”
This is the toughest component for many people, letting go. The more unimportant tasks you can remove from your desk, the more time and energy you will have to focus on things that are important to you and where your skills are most needed. If this section is done honestly — be honest with yourself! — you will have a plethora of time at your disposal.
Take the time to establish if the tasks are useful or relevant and then delete, remove, or eliminate those tasks that are not!
THE GOAL IS TO FOCUS YOUR ENERGY ON THE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE IMPORTANT
I still fall prey to random requests, requests for help, or advice. I overschedule my time so I can see my friends and colleagues while we can. I subscribe to emails that do not give me value-added advice because I am hoping I will take the time to read them.
We all do.
These tools however help me to win my time back and prioritize the things that matter to me. Like writing for instance. I wrote this article before I opened my email accounts…otherwise, I would have been distracted and never would have written it!
Take time now. To take back your time.
Here are some worksheets you can use for your prioritization activities.
Pareto Principle Worksheet | Urgent Importance Matrix Worksheet
Good luck and please do share your wins or your work with these tools!
