In today’s world, many of us are juggling a ton of responsibilities— whether it’s pursuing higher education, working full-time, parenting, or job hunting. You might find yourself giving “110%” to everything, but let’s be honest: that’s not sustainable. We often end up a year later with our big goals unmet and our minds racing with unfinished tasks. The key to navigating this chaos? Effective prioritization.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
We all know that little things can pile up and steal focus from bigger tasks. Often, our minds are so cluttered with small worries that we go to bed stressed and wake up with a new list of things to tackle. This scattered state, sometimes called “monkey mind,” keeps us from focusing on what truly matters.
Clear the Decks: Prioritization Tips
Here are four straightforward strategies to help you prioritize more effectively:
- Choose Activities Wisely: Break tasks into quadrants based on their value and the time they require.
- Manage Energy and Priorities: Align tasks with your energy levels—work on high-priority tasks when you’re most energized.
- Apply the Pareto Principle: Focus on the 20% of tasks that deliver 80% of the results.
- Focus on Important and Urgent Tasks: Use the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks that are both urgent and important.
These strategies help you organize your daily tasks, but what about bigger, long-term goals?
Think Bigger
Apply these methods to larger projects like job hunting, starting a business, or planning for retirement. During coaching sessions, I often help clients weigh new commitments against their current efforts. Being mindful of these significant goals— enables you to prioritize effectively and maybe even drop less impactful tasks.
Operationalizing Big Goals
Here’s a technique I find useful: operationalize your big goals. This means setting priorities and being realistic about the effort required. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Determine Effort
Create a table listing your goals, their priority, and the effort each requires. For this, let’s say that your total effort capacity is right at 100%.
For example, let’s say someone is evaluating whether to pursue a PhD alongside other commitments:
| Goal | Priority | Percent Effort |
| Gain PhD | 1 | 40% |
| Build Personal Brand | 2 | 10% |
| Grow Business | 3 | 30% |
| Downsize Home | 4 | 10% |
| Focus on Wellness | 5 | 10% |
Step 2: Use the Four Methods for Insight
Ask these four questions and score each goal:
- Which goal holds the most value?
- Which goal energizes you the most?
- Which goal is the easiest to achieve?
- Which goal is most urgent or important?
Here’s how the table might look:
| Goal | Priority | Percent Effort | Value | Energy | Difficulty | Urgency |
| Gain PhD | 1 | 40% | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Build Personal Brand | 2 | 10% | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Grow Business | 3 | 30% | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Downsize Home | 4 | 10% | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Focus on Wellness | 5 | 10% | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
Step 3: Analyze and Adjust
Look at how the effort aligns with your priorities. Adjust your goals to focus on those that offer the greatest return and match your current energy and resources.
In the example above, prioritizing business and branding efforts and focusing on wellness might be the best approach. The PhD and downsizing plans could be deferred.
Achieve Calm and Clear
By prioritizing and operationalizing your goals, you can achieve clarity and align your efforts with what truly matters. Treat your goals as a living list— revisit and adjust as needed. This approach not only helps reduce mental clutter but also increases your chances of success while minimizing regrets.
