Creating Priorities
It was a particularly busy day. All three kids needed to be in separate places at about the same time, the fridge was showing the great need to be restocked, the pile of laundry was pleading for attention, and there were about 12 other items on my to-do list that I needed to get to. I felt like there wasn’t enough time in the day to get everything that I wanted done.
Because I wasn’t completing the entire list, I felt like I was falling behind and failing. I wanted to be able to do it all but I couldn’t. I just didn’t have enough time! Have you been there, too?
The thing is, we do not have a time problem. What we have is a priority problem. When we think that all things have the same level of priority in our lives, we get overwhelmed because there is no way to get it all fit in.
We all have the same 24 hours every day. But we decide each day what we are going to prioritize and what we are going to allow to go to the back burner.
But, how do we determine what those priorities are? Asking ourselves a few questions can help us narrow it down.
What do I value? On initial thought, we may be prone to list what our parents may say, or what culture tells us to think. Take time to think through what you truly value in your life. Try to avoid external motivations like money and prestige. Also stay away from the motivation of listing what you ‘should’ do.
What do I want to see maintained, changed, or improved? There may be areas of your life that you like how they are. What are you doing to help keep it that way? What areas of your life would you like to see changed or improved? Are your priorities helping you move the ball forward in these areas?
What is urgent and what is important? Often, the urgent is something that someone else has placed on your plate. It is important to them so they press on you the urgency to get it done. However, things that are important are usually items that are driven by our own priorities. Differentiate between which urgent items you can assist someone with and which important items need your attention as well.
We often overestimate what we can do in a day. We can make a long list in the morning, feeling like we have a whole day to accomplish it. But we do not live in a vacuum, and other people’s priorities can have an impact on what we can accomplish.
Giving ourselves 3 main things that we want to accomplish each day, items that pass the 3-question test above, can help us feel less overwhelmed. We may get more than 3 things accomplished in a day, but knocking those important top 3 can help boost our mood and feeling of accomplishment.
Challenges/Points:
We don’t have a time problem, we have a priority problem.
When we make all things just as important as the next, we end up feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.
Take time to go through the questions above and list what your priorities are.
Questions:
Do you feel like you are always short on time?
Do you find yourself dropping the important to address the urgent?
Which of the above questions (value, change, and urgency/importance) was hardest to answer?
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