Sometimes it starts to seem as if the whole world is crumbling. Work and school assignments begin to pile up, chores and responsibilities, commitments to friends and family — sometimes there aren't enough hours in one day. By learning to prioritize effectively, you will become a more productive employee, saving you time, energy and hassle. Learn to organize your tasks into categories and difficulty levels, and start practicing a professional approach to completing them. Skip to part one for more information.

Steps

Part 1

Making a to-do list

Define a time frame for your list. Are you having a particularly busy week? Crazy day? It may be maddening to think about what you need to do before the end of the year. Regardless of the nature of your commitment, pick a priority list period that you hope to create and start managing those priorities and translating that stress into action.

• TO short-term goals often items from different categories are included. You may have a few things to get done at work by the end of the day, things to do before heading home, and a lot of chores to do around the house when you finally get there. You could make a list of the stressors, all the things that need to be done in the next few hours.
• Long term goals may include larger goals that need to be broken down into multiple steps and that also need to be prioritized. You could put the goal of "going to college" on a long-term to-do list that will include various small things. This simple breakdown step will simplify and clarify the process.

1. Write down everything you need to do. Start breaking down the list and writing down exactly what you need to do in no particular order. Within a time frame that makes you nervous, select all the tasks - large or small - that need to be completed and list them. List projects to be completed, decisions to be made, and assignments to travel.

   Classify everything you need to do. It may be helpful to break everything down into separate categories, that is, creating different to-do lists for different areas life. Household chores can belong to one category, and work projects can belong to another. If you are actively practicing social activities then there is probably a lot going on during the weekend, for which you also need to prepare and prioritize. Make up separate list for each category.

   Get your list in order. Identify the most important or urgent tasks on the list and rewrite the list with these tasks at the top. It all depends on you and the topics of your list, so you can decide what school activities take precedence over work projects, or vice versa.

   • Also, if everything is equally important and necessary, leave the list unordered and organize it alphabetically or randomly. As you actively check the boxes in the list, all that matters is that you complete the list items.

2. Keep the list in a visible place. Keep your list in a prominent place, especially for long-term tasks, where you can use it as a reminder to finish by actively crossing out or checking off items as you complete them.

   • If you've made a copy of the list on paper, hang it in a place you often look at, such as the refrigerator door, a notice board near the front door, or on the wall of your office.
   • Alternatively, you can keep the list open on your desktop while you are doing other things so that they will be fresh in your memory, and delete items when you complete the task.
   • Self-adhesive sticky note paper serves as a great housekeeping reminder. If you stick one such piece of paper with a reminder to work with your documents on the TV screen, you will not forget to do the important thing, instead of wasting time on less productive activities.

   Part 2

   Ordering your list items

   1. Rank tasks in order of importance. What is the most important matter on your list? In general, you may find that work / school tasks outweigh community and household chores, although there may be some discrepancies. You should eat and bathe, for example, although the laundry can wait another day until you finish an important work project.

      • Define three different levels, they will be enough to classify different tasks and criteria from the list. High, medium and low the importance of tasks is the best and the simplest way to start categorizing the items on your list in order of importance. Be smart about your definition.

   2. Determine the urgency of each task. Consider the deadlines ahead and your ability to work within those deadlines. What needs to be done in the near future? What needs to be done by the end of the day? On what could you be able to buy a little more time?

      • It is important to consider the amount of time it will take you to complete each task, perhaps even assign set time certain cases. If you prioritize exercising every day, but have a crazy amount of work to be done, set aside a 30-minute chunk for that and try to fit into it somehow.

   3. Classify each task according to the degree of difficulty. It might be important that you drop something in the post office by the end of the day, but that isn't a terribly difficult task. Categorize all of the items on your list by difficulty so you know how to arrange them in relation to other tasks.

      • It will be effective to use levels such as hard, moderate and easy to classify, rather than trying to compare them with each other. Don't worry about ordering them before assigning a difficulty level to each item, if that's helpful.

   4. Compare all tasks and organize your list. At the top of the list, put the most important and urgent tasks requiring the least effort in order to try to get the most work done in the time allotted.

   Part 3

   Proceed with list items

   Do one point at a time and follow through. It is difficult to move up the list selectively and do a little bit of everything. In a few hours, your list will look exactly the same as it does now: unfinished. Instead of doing a little, do one thing to the end, and then, after a short break, move on to the next on the list. Don't start working on anything else on the list until you've finished with the first things that matter most.

   Decide what to assign to others and what will take its course. If the Internet does not work at home, then you may be tempted to go to the library, start studying on wi-fi so that you can re-diagnose the problem, but not if you have to finish cooking dinner, check twenty written works until the morning and do more fifty cases. Wouldn't it be better to contact the service provider instead?

   • It's okay to decide in favor of something not worth the time, or when the cost of delegating a task outweighs the time you will spend on it. You could buy a new expensive wire fence, or collect it yourself from waste, diligently combing landfills, carefully sorting through scrap metal for several hours in the hot sun, but if this adds up to only a few rubles in savings, then it may be better to buy new wires.

   1. Alternate between different tasks from the list. Separating the types of activities you perform will help you keep your interest in the activities and progress faster through the list. Alternate your homework list with your household chores list to help you work most effectively. Take short breaks between them and do different things. This will maintain enthusiasm and increase productivity.

      Start with less attractive or more challenging problems. Depending on your character, for your mood, it will be better if you first complete the work that you least want to do. It may not necessarily be the most difficult or most important task, but it will be effective for many people to get rid of it so that less unpleasant activities can be saved for later.

      • Your English essay may be more important than your math homework, but if you really hate math, get rid of it first so you can free up all the time you need and devote it exclusively to your essay, giving it full, unlimited attention.

   2. Let the importance outweigh the relevance in some cases. You may have a situation in which you only have 10 minutes to drive through town to the library in order to pick up the ordered new Game of Thrones disc, which makes this the most important thing on the list, but this time could be better spent on completing a more important task, working on an essay in English. You can buy yourself more time by waiting until the next day to pick up your DVD, when you have more time to do so.

      Cross them off the list as you complete tasks. Congratulations! As you progress down the list, take the joyful moment to cross out the item, delete it from the file, or aggressively cut out the written on paper with a rusty penknife and solemnly burn the pieces over the fire. Take a minute to reward yourself for every little accomplishment. You do it!

   What do you need

   • Pencil
   • Paper
   • Marker
   • Consider breaking up a large problem into several smaller ones. Small things are not so scary to take on and easier to complete.
   • Give yourself time to rest, relax, and recover.
   • Be realistic about the amount you accomplished over a period of time.
   • Ask for help. Assign family members or friends to part of your list.
   • In the case of school assignments at the top of the list should be the ones that will give you more points and that are about to expire.
   • Leave some time for surprises.
   • If two tasks have the same degree of importance or urgency, consider one that requires less effort.
   • Half an hour to one hour will be enough time to stay focused before taking a break.
   • Tasks that require more time-consuming efforts may need special consideration in order to set aside a separate time to complete them.
   • Use a text editor or spreadsheet editor on your computer. Then you don't have to copy the list again.
   • Help and teach this to others. If you finish things ahead of time, offer help and teach you how to prioritize your family and friends. Your parents can reward you with additional pocket money.
   • Skip or postpone tasks that are not so important and require a lot of effort.
   • You must master the time and plan ahead, as well as maintain a positive attitude and not procrastinate.
   • Manage your time, plan ahead, and don't hesitate.
   • Remember the mantra "I can, I must and I will do it!" and do not complain about the workload.
   • Patience and hard work will certainly be rewarded.

In this article, I will collect all the key information on how how to prioritize... Correct prioritization plays very important role in the life of any person, it is important in all spheres of human life and in life in general. Correctly set priorities allow you to realize all your dreams and dreams in any business.

Prioritization is one of the most important things in the art of time management. Very often people do not have time to do anything, do not do the right things, do not achieve their goals just because they do not know how to set priorities correctly. They rush to carry out all the tasks at the same time and as a result they cannot perform qualitatively any of them, especially the most important and necessary tasks. To avoid this mistake and will significantly help correct placement priorities. First, let's figure out what it is.

Prioritization is the sorting of all tasks in order of importance, in order to get them done in the order of priority, and so that the most important, highest-priority tasks always get done first and get done.

At first glance, nothing complicated. But in practice, everything is not so simple ... If you often do not have time to do something important, if you constantly put off important things for later, if you constantly grab several things at once, you should definitely think about how to correctly prioritize. And then I will offer you a number of tools for this. varying degrees efficiency, from which you can choose and use those that you like and suit you specifically.

Prioritization methods.

So, let's look at a variety of prioritization methods. I have already described some of them in more detail in other articles, so I will give links - follow them to get acquainted in more detail.

Eisenhower Matrix. Very popular and effective method correctly prioritize, which is actively discussed in various literature, at seminars, etc. The essence of this method is to distribute all the necessary tasks according to two criteria: according to the degree of importance and urgency. Thus, a kind of matrix is ​​obtained - a table in which the priority of doing things is reduced from the upper left corner to the lower right corner.

Applying the Eisenhower matrix, you can almost completely exclude the possibility that some important and urgent business will not be completed, and this is not enough.

Drawing up to-do lists. Many people, when thinking about how to prioritize, use this method, because it is very simple, straightforward and accessible. The bottom line is to plan your time by making and following to-do lists. In this case, the most important cases should be put at the beginning of the list, and then, in descending order of priority.

Pareto rule. You can also prioritize correctly using the famous Pareto rule (or law). Its essence is that only 20% of the efforts bring 80% of the result and vice versa: 80% of the efforts bring only 20% of the result. Prioritization in this case is very simple: you need to select your 20% of the most effective cases (based on the analysis of already available data) and focus your efforts on them. They will be the highest priority for you, and the rest 80% will be secondary.

You can read more about the operation of this law and its application in the article.

Descartes' square. Quite a complex method of prioritization, requiring more time and mental costs in comparison with others, but also more accurate, more effective. It is best to use this method to set priorities globally, for example, for a year, for several years, or even for a lifetime. It will be inconvenient for daily planning.

How to apply this method for planning? You need to consider each of your goals from four sides:

• What happens if I do this?
• What if I don't?
• What will not happen if I do this?
• What won't happen if I don't?

Each of your answers can be given a certain weight, and according to the sum of these weights, you can prioritize your activities: from more to less.

ABC method. Very simplistic and therefore affordable way prioritization, which consists in the distribution of all your affairs into only 3 categories of importance:

• A - very important;
• B - not very important;
• C are not important at all.

Accordingly, cases from category A will have the highest priority for you, followed by cases from category B, and last of all - cases from category C. Despite all its simplicity, the ABC method almost completely eliminates the possibility of “losing” and not performing an important task, so it is quite possible to use it.

Olympic system. Prioritization according to this principle occurs through sequential pairwise "competition" - comparison of tasks in order to determine the finalist-winner.

Let's say you have 16 tasks (the number can be whatever you need). You run a pairwise “tournament” between them - 1/8 finals, choosing a higher priority task from each pair. There are 8 cases left - for them you arrange the 1/4 finals in the same way, in which 4 semifinalists are determined. Then 1/2 finals to determine 2 finalists. And finally, the final, where the winning goal is determined. She will have the highest priority for you, the second semi-finalist the next most important, the quarter-finalists the next, etc.

Pairwise comparison method. This prioritization option is similar to the previous one, but a little more difficult, since it is necessary to compare tasks according to several criteria that are most important to you. It is convenient to give each of these criteria its own weight, for example, on a scale from 1 to 5.

A young woman Olga came to the psychologist's appointment with a problem atypical for her age, which she defined as emptiness. A strange situation: a husband, two children, work, and there is emptiness around her. Come on, only around, the emptiness was also deep inside. After completing a number of formalities, the psychologist asked to talk about how a typical weekday goes in order to understand the daily prioritization.

- Priorities? What are you speaking about? I am absolutely rightly life-oriented. The main thing for me is the health of my loved ones, - the client was indignant.

“I’m not asking you to talk about values, I just want to understand the daily setting of priorities,” the psychologist explained.

- Do you want to understand what is more important to me: the health of my mother or the love of her husband?

- I'm not trying to figure out the hierarchy of your life values... It is quite difficult. I'm just trying to figure out how you organize your day.

The dialogue could have been endless and required a simple explanation of the meaning of the art of prioritization.

What are priorities?

The question that caught the client by surprise is really very important from the point of view of the daily attitude to life. Prioritizing means understanding what really matters NOW.

The concept of priority has actively entered our life recently from the computer vocabulary. Task Manager operating system computer determines which program to execute in this moment depending on its importance - i.e. assigns priority.

Consider the definition of priority on simple example... Let's say you need to collect information about something on a computer disk. First you need to create a folder with a specific name, and then throw it there, required files... It is more convenient and faster than uploading files to different places, and then collect them into a folder. So, to start collecting information, you need to create a place where we will collect it. Folder creation takes priority.

Notice, not the main or important, but the priority, that is, the first, important right now. You can create several other folders along the way, if this is important now. And if not, do you need to spend time and effort on this?

So, priority is a process, an event that is most important in a given place, at a given time. The car is simple. The computer brain quickly calculates all the options for completing tasks and determines the most effective ones at the moment, making them a priority, that is, it performs exactly them. And you can't argue with that.

V Everyday life we constantly have to prioritize, that is, choose the most important and effective processes. We are planning a trip to the store, daily cleaning apartments, business at work, including light breaks to discuss the news. We even plan to start a new life on Monday, but we do not start, because completely different processes are becoming priorities.

The psychologist continues the dialogue with Olga:

- Do you buy products in fast food for your loved ones?

- And why?

- Relatives love this food, I want to please them. Plus, this purchase frees me from having to spend the evening at the stove.

- Do you know that this food is harmful?

- I know. But this does not happen often.

- So, sometimes you want to get rid of household chores more important than health loved ones?

No answer. And it cannot be, the concepts are confused here.

Why prioritize?

The continuation of the dialogue between the psychologist and the client speaks of the differentiation of concepts: values ​​and priorities. We will not talk about the dangers of fast food. We are talking about the processes that are important right now. And, the main thing is to understand what exactly is important - to set priorities.

Firstly, this will save you time. Think about the task scheduler computer system, which clearly prioritizes processes based on this principle.

Secondly, this will help save you energy. Indeed, it is easier to walk into a store on the way from work than to return after you have already arrived home. It is more convenient to plan your activities in advance, considering possible options.

Thirdly, this will determine your main tasks for the near future and subordinate all other actions to them.

To understand the importance of prioritization, consider the fast food situation.

Option 1. Situation: A tired woman returns from work. She really wants to relax at home after a hard day.

Solution: buy food for loved ones in a restaurant fast food... This will provide them good mood and save her the trouble of making dinner.

Priority: rest after a hard day's work.

Will you reproach her for bad attitude to loved ones? No, because you understand the motive of her action and the chosen priority.

Option 2.(complicating the situation). Everything is the same, but there is very little money in the wallet.

Solution: buy food fast food... This will save her from the need for long cooking and will provide additional time for rest.

Priority: Prepare food as quickly as possible and save money.

Will there be any reproaches in this case? Also no. Because the choice is also clear here.

Option 3. The situation is the same.

Solution: buy vegetables, defrost meat, cook chakhokhbili.

Priority: proper nutrition for loved ones.

Bottom line: long cooking, disgruntled hungry family, nervous tired woman, and possibly family conflicts combined with recriminations.

Was it worth given priority the results obtained? What is more important to you: peace in the family or observance proper nutrition? So, again, prioritization.

Having dealt with the concepts of priority and values, Olga received homework, in which it was necessary to rank the daily priorities, starting from the most important. The difficulty of the task was that she had to indicate at least 50 points.

The psychologist noted with surprise that the woman coped with it. In an abbreviated form, it looked like this:

1. Don't be late for work.
2. Take the kids to school.
3. Do your job in good faith.
4. Don't make mistakes in the texts.
5. For the boss to notice her diligence.
6. Bonus opportunity.

1. N.'s attention to her person.
2. The opinion of colleagues about her appearance.

1. The opinion of A.P. about her shoes.
2. An invitation to tea in the office of the chief accountant.

38. To be able to do everything in the service so as not to take work home.

1. Feed your family.
2. Eat low-calorie foods to lose weight.

Prioritization mistakes

So, we have already found out that the need to set priorities is before us every day, and the result of our activities depends on how well we do it. What is wrong with the rating of our heroine?

The first on the list is not to be late for work, then, through the paragraph, do your job without making mistakes. Commendable. If the list consisted of four items, then the option with the boss and the bonus would not be important? And the material side of the issue turns out to be irrelevant? Directly some kind of communism turns out.

In fact, this is not the case. We come to work to earn money, which means that material interest is important. Selfless workaholics are quickly figured out in any office, and then they cry into their pillow, earn depression, just because they have misplaced priorities. They are considered conscientious and responsible, but they are not promoted or rewarded financially.

It's another matter, people-careerists. Even with inferior ability, they receive high salaries and positions because of the right priorities. Is it so bad to be a careerist?

Several items on the list relate to the assessment of appearance. For every representative of the fair sex, appearance is important. But in the list we did not see anything related to the creation processes female beauty: makeup, manicure, clothing selection. What is the matter here?

V in this case, the client does not consider it important to take care of herself, and the assessment of her appearance by her colleagues, most likely, frightens her more than makes her happy. She is afraid of negative attitudes, or even comments, and does not expect compliments. This item, along with others, can cause a depressive attitude towards what is happening.

Everything will be easier if you add a well-groomed appearance, properly selected clothes to the list of priorities, and only then the desire not to be late. The morning of a young woman will obey her mood, the reflection in the mirror, the desire to please. The opinion of colleagues about her appearance will go down lower and lower in the table, until it completely disappears from the rating.

This point, of course, will force you to change plans for the weekend. You need to take time for yourself: go shopping, visit a beauty salon, or at least make simple cosmetic procedures Houses. Perhaps, in the plans for the weekend there will be a task to rest, the most important thing to do. But in the priority ratings, as a rule, cooking borscht and cutlets is more common, and not options family vacation.

So what happens: we drive ourselves into a dead end by simply planning our lives? Yes exactly. Errors in prioritization destroy a person's personality, making them slaves to needs; destroy family relationships by bringing home cleaning and cooking to the fore, reducing the importance of sincere communication and family fun to zero.

Here's an imaginary dialogue with readers:

- How is it, - the readers exclaim, - we ourselves are destroying our lives? But we try to do household chores, taking care of loved ones.

- And what is more important to loved ones: a plate of borscht or a joint skiing trip?

“Both are important,” you say.

- Right. But it comes about prioritization, when you need to choose one thing. And in this situation it may well fit quick snack if he keeps the warmth of the relationship and the weekend experience. And a whole day spent in the kitchen can cause alienation and resentment.

Of course, household chores need to be done. But this must be planned so as not to destroy other values.

The art of prioritizing

Prioritizing is really easy if you learn to understand exactly what you need. Don't be afraid to answer your questions honestly. Only you are able to understand your desires.

How to do it? Here are some rules:

1. Prioritize things always, even in the smallest things. Start your work day with what's important, but not simple, easy, and smaller. Remember that spending time on little things will miss out on important things, and this is always fraught with consequences. Your personal planner should always prioritize.
2. Know how to clearly assess your condition, and, based on this, plan your activities. Do not force anything unless absolutely necessary. If negative state the norm, then try to change this particular situation.
3. Involve your environment in important decisions and deeds. Vocalize your condition without fear of the reaction of colleagues or loved ones. Let those around you learn to build their priorities, taking into account the interests of loved ones.
4. Define several important long-term priorities that will be presented in the form of small tasks. For example, the goal of losing weight will be reflected in the purchase of a low-calorie meal or avoiding dessert.
5. Consider the desires of loved ones in your priorities. Give in to them and make compromises. Don't confuse objectives and values. And don't let one destroy the other.

After a while, Olga told about how she saw off her husband on a long business trip. Usually, she got up early in the morning, started making pies, putting things in a suitcase and ironing each shirt. By evening, she became tired and irritated.

But not at this time. She really wanted to spend this time with her family. After discussing in the evening the insignificance of homemade pies and shirts, which still have to be ironed, she and her husband packed a suitcase and planned a family vacation.

A young woman with a smile talked about visiting a shopping and entertainment center, air hockey and a little shopping.

The psychologist noted that Olga has learned to enjoy life.

Everyday affairs will always be. It is very easy to become addicted to an endless stream of work and household responsibilities. At some point, a person completely submits himself to the concept of "should". It is then that life is filled with fatigue, vanity, and alienation.

It is important to understand in time own desires and needs, from this position, setting the daily priorities of business and household affairs.

Can you do it? Do you want to learn? Then, first, make your daily priority rating (at least 50 points). Only one important condition: be honest with yourself.

The word "priority" itself contains the Latin prefix "prio", which means "before, before." Prioritization is when you decide on a daily basis what you need to do first in order to achieve your goals.

The Eisenhower Principle will help you start your tasks and work in order according to your priorities. And to do this, first of all ask yourself: are these matters important or urgent?

According to the Pareto principle, 20% of our tasks will be important in all respects. Funnily enough, most of them are also urgent. Performing important tasks brings you closer to your intended goal. Urgent matters shift your attention to themselves without having much of an impact on your goal. The most important affairs and tasks leading to success and achievement of goals, in no case should be pushed back under the pressure of unimportant but urgent matters.

However, unfortunately, we all have a tendency to start with secondary, insignificant matters, so to speak, "waste your time on trifles." The letterheads lying on the desktop seem much more attractive to us than the important project we have been putting off for several days. Therefore, first of all, pay attention to those tasks that can most affect your success. Priorities will help you with this.

To attain best results you should spend most of your time for really important things and tasks.

A small test: important or urgent?

Check it out correct option(only one).

1. You have made up your mind to work towards your “annual” goal. However, all this still lies "shelved".

Important or ____ urgent?

Important or ____ urgent?

3. You have decided that you will visit the dentist once a year. A year has passed, and you have not been to dentistry.

Important or ____ urgent?

Right answers:

question 1 - important; question 2 - urgent; question 3 - important.

The Eisenhower principle allows you to combine only two criteria - important and urgent, thus resulting in four classes of priorities. To plan successfully, you need to analyze and categorize all the challenges you face. And then you will have a hierarchical list, thanks to which you will know what, when and how to do it.

Eisenhower Hierarchical List

Priority A: These are the things that need to be done today because they are urgent and necessary.

B-priority: important things that you don't have to do today. Just set aside time for yourself to do things B on a regular basis and find a place for them in your schedule. Completing tasks from this group will ensure success and bring you closer to your intended goal.

Quite often, B's affairs are simply shelved because they are not urgent. Nevertheless, their timely implementation will avoid many problems.

Example Problem B. You have a paper to prepare for a board meeting, it is possible that it will even bring you a promotion. You have a whole month left, however, if you frantically write a report in the last two days before the meeting, it can lead you to a crisis.

For everyone who has to compose numerous documents, task B is certainly to acquire the skill of the ten-finger typing method. Even if it takes thirty hours of your time, it's not scary, in the future, being able to type quickly, you can save a lot of time, Furthermore, the earlier you start learning, the better.

The so-called customer survey, conducted to improve the product, is of similar importance, due to which such an indicator as customer satisfaction will significantly increase.

V privacy task B can be called a regular preventive examination by a doctor, which will allow you to identify special threats to your body and prevent serious illness and, as a consequence, the subsequent long weeks of disability.

C-priority: skills, mastery, which seem urgent to us, but not important. These include: the ability to remain calm, delegate responsibilities (so to speak, "the ability to send delegations") or say "no". With this, you will buy time to solve important problems from group B.

D-priority: This includes things that are neither important nor urgent. You can safely put them aside in a paper box or, for deadlines or certain tasks, refuse them, or simply delegate to someone else to do it. Deliberately shield yourself from doing D activities that provide relaxation and fun during the most stressful days.

Prioritization: do it right

1. Distribute all your tasks and responsibilities into the above groups A, B, C and D. Thus, you separate the "necessary" from the "useless".

2. Remember, “important” is fundamentally different from “urgent”. "Important" brings you closer to your intended goal, but it is not necessarily "urgent." The "urgent", on the other hand, requires your immediate attention.

3. Pay attention to the so-called “rule of advantage”: “important” comes before “urgent”. It is not necessary to do everything that requires haste. Try not to submit to the dictatorship of urgent matters any longer, because it lurks the following danger: we begin to be distracted by what is urgent, but absolutely unimportant and not obligatory.

4. To plan your time wisely given advice will be very useful: always start with the item number 1 in group A, and not with the item number 3 or 4, no matter how attractive and interesting they are. If by the end of the working day you have not had time to cope with all the tasks and affairs from group A, then continue working with them the next day. Do not do other tasks until you finish with the first.

5. Work on a time-consuming task in Group B every day. Along with their daily activities you should also think about your "strategic" important tasks and goals. This is the only way you can secure your "tomorrow's" success today.

Make it clear to yourself once and for all that you will never have enough time for everything that you would like to do and for what others want from you. Make sure to only use your time on things that are really important to you that can bring you closer to your goal. And you can gain time only if you learn to say "no" and refuse to do unnecessary tasks.

Quiz: Are you prioritizing correctly?

Now you can analyze your prioritization skills. Please note: only tasks that are really important to you can be included in priority groups A and B!

1. What percentage of the total time do you spend in each of the four squares A, B, C, D? (see picture)

2. Which group would you classify the things you will be doing tomorrow?

1 .____________________ = _________ - priority

2, ____________________ = _________ - priority

3 .____________________ = _________ - priority

4 .____________________ = _________ - priority

3. Now write down on what or on whom you would like to spend more time than usual, and on what you would like to reduce the time.

I would shorten: __________________________

Instead of this: __________________________

Elena Vetstein

When is the table stable? Or how to prioritize correctly?

There are four main components in the life of every person, which, in the case of their optimal condition, make a person happy. These are life priorities. Being able to prioritize life correctly is like talent. It allows a person to feel harmony. Life priorities can be compared to the legs of a table. The table is most stable on four equal legs.

The first and perhaps the most important component is the physical state based on health, external appeal, Vital energy. All three components are closely related to each other. Poor health, low attractiveness, lack of vital energy limit the ability to realize other components happy life... But this is not the only reason to prioritize physical fitness. Being born, man first of all learns to consciously control his body (work in a coordinated manner with his arms and legs, hold his head, sit, crawl, walk). Working with the body is always the most understandable (the obviousness of the relationship between action and the result). A person who does not know how to work with his body does not know how to control himself! From negligence to your body grows internal licentiousness, laziness, disorganization!

As a rule, nature advances us, endowing us with a good physical condition in young age... If in the priorities of a person there is no proper work to keep the body in shape, and he treats it exclusively as a resource, over time, the source begins to dry out. The first signs of a problem are manifested in a lack, when apathy appears, a reluctance to act. The chances of fully realizing their own talents decrease.

Self-realization- it " second table leg". When a person realizes his abilities and talents, he is happy. Unrealized potential makes a person angry, envious, self-pitying and critical of others! Self-realization directly affects how self-sufficient a person feels. The non-self-sufficient always believes that the whole world owes him. Self-sufficient person builds partnerships with the world and other people.

Relationships are the third component happy life (third leg of the table).
Relationships built by a person depend on the harmony or disharmony of his inner peace, its internal organization.

A self-sufficient person does not react to what is happening (does not get angry, does not get angry), but acts in accordance with changing circumstances. Realizing that each of us is guided by our own interests, we understand and accept the actions of other people. This helps not to feel anger towards others, but towards yourself - pity that the world is unfair.

The fourth component(the fourth leg of the table) is Financial independence... Because, firstly, in modern world money is the most liquid commodity, allowing to satisfy the needs of everyone for which there are no own talents. Secondly, financial independence is an opportunity to aim for something more.

So, the four legs of the conventional table - physical condition, relationships, self-realization, financial independence.

Does the table need a fifth leg? In my opinion, no.

What if one of the four legs breaks? The table will stand. The table can stand on two legs, but it will be very unstable! There are tables on one leg. And in life, too, there are times when a person develops in only one or two directions. For example, a person spent most of his life building his own successful business... He realized his talents, acquired financial independence, but did not build a family, no friends (relationship), physical condition also leaves much to be desired. Or another example, a woman chose family relationships as the only direction of their own development. The single leg of the table developed and strengthened, becoming the center and source of happiness. Years passed, the children grew up, the husband left ...

With all the variety of tables, the most stable are those that are held on four legs.

Why, with all the obviousness of the values ​​described above, are most people dissatisfied with themselves and their own life results? There is a simple test. Those who are not too lazy to take paper and a pen or pencil to go through it will be able to draw very interesting conclusions for themselves.

1. Write in column 4-5 of your values ​​(areas of life) that are most important to you. You can suggest your own wording, for example, business, loved one, friends, family, money, etc. /
2. Assign space to each direction by importance for you in descending order.
3. Now honestly assign a place in descending order by time that you spend on each of the directions.
4. Let's make the test harder! To do this, add one more line "Other" to the column of your priorities below.
5. Now distribute approximately how much of your time as a percentage you spend on each direction.

Values ​​(priorities) Time spent,%

___________________ ___________________
___________________ ___________________
___________________ ___________________
_____ Other ______ ___________________

Try to be objective. If you wrote "Money" as one of your priorities, most likely you are assuming a rather large amount. At the same time, you earn several times less, and really do nothing to change the situation (you did not open your own business in parallel, do not regularly send your resume to those companies where they will pay you, the amount that you thought about in your priorities) ... This means that you do not spend anything to achieve the result, you can put 0%. If your priority is family, then think about how much time you devote to your soulmate, children, parents. This does not include the time when you lie in front of the TV, spend on the Internet, even if at this moment your household is circling around you!

6. Take a look at what you have done.

If the value to you and the time taken are different, do not wait for the desired results.

I hope this test has helped you understand why expectations and reality do not match. If you saw promising areas for development, then it’s time to build the achievement of results and start acting!

I think, no matter what your own priorities you name, they fit into the directions that are indicated above in this material(physical condition, relationships, self-realization, financial independence).

If you deliberately miss a certain direction from your own priorities, remember that tables are different, but the table with four legs is the most stable!