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I pretty much just make lists without prioritizing and try to make myself accomplish all of them I can before I leave. This may cause added stress now that I realize I should be listing them in order of importance.
I think I have immediacy issues that are brought about because the faster I accomplish what is asked, the better I feel I look. It almost becomes a competition among co-workers given similar tasks.
The most important and often most difficult task is assigning an honest/appropriate importance to each task. You will receive an urgent email from a friend or co-worker with a task that is "RED HOT". You have to review the new task and determine its priority ICW your other tasks. The difficult part is informing your friend or co-worker that their "RED HOT" task is not your "RED HOT" task. It might be mean, but if you want to manage your time properly then you need to prioritize.
sure, you need to prioritize. Fulfilling requests in the order in which they appear, can give you a sense of order BUT the priority is sacrificed.
I do write down what I am going to do. I just go in order on the list and what gets done gets done and then I just add the rest to the next day.
a B-U-S-Y physician colleague of mine had the following sign on his office door:
'The urgent trumps the important"
I have always remembers this quote, and you know - it is true.
I usually try to do and complete every task as soon as they come in. That way, I won't have to remember to do them at a future date, but that doesn't mean I don't place some degree of priority on some task over others. When I am told that a certain item requires my immediate attention, I will tend to that task first. So far, this method has worked for me, therefor, I don't believe that I will divert from my current method.
Anne, I understand where you are coming from. Sometimes lists can feel daunting and unmanageable. You might do well by dividing your list into two sections, tasks that need to be completed and tasks that are already complete. This way, you can enjoy seeing your progress.
Dr. Melissa Read
I tend to do 'worst first,' because the 'easy' or least time consuming, are, well, less time consuming! :) However, I feel I have a problem with immediacy - I tend to work through my lunches grading papers and exams while I eat, instead of giving myself a chance to unwind and relax before tackling big tasks like that. Looking back, I realize that when my co-workers 'force' me to go out to lunch with them, instead eating and working, I come back more refreshed and clear-headed, and grading those papers are less of a burden.
Taking this into account, I am willing to bet that my priorities would also change, if I were to give myself some time before jumping from one task to the next.
Being in the educational industry, there are always a number of "action items" that need to be taken care of at any given hour of the day. This training has helped me see the value in prioritizing what is important and what is urgent.
I am not an "immediacy" person but I tend to hit the ground running. When I am assigned tasks, I usually start on them immediately to do the initial leg work to prepare the task for completion at a later date. After reading this module, it makes me stop and think that I need to prioritize things better to get them done more efficiently.
I just had to go to a mediation meeting a couple of weeks ago because of my immediacy issues. I didn't realize that it was a problem until it was brought to my attention. I was confusing immediacy with prioritizing, and learned that what's priority for me may be less important for my lab assistant.
I tend to prioritize. I make sure I do first things first. My only problem is that by the time I get to the end of the list, I sometimes am rushed. My solution for this is better time management.
Yes based on what i have learned in this module about task prioritization,I will change the order in which I accomplish important and urgent tasks in the future. I truly thank you for this information.
I hope to change the order without feeling that I am creating a list of failures when they are not completed.
I sometimes feel that the list becomes a list of failures instead of accomplihments if there are more uncompleted tasks then completed ones.
I usually complete the easier tasks first, and then break down the larger assignments.
Courtney, I understand where you are coming from! Many successful people got where they are by being almost too on top of things. While it's important to acknowledge how great immediacy can be for our careers, it's also important to take a break every now and then too.
Dr. Melissa Read
Ephraim, Sounds like a spot-on self assessment. We know ourselves best. It's interesting to hear that procrastination impacts work and personal life. Sometimes people find that it impacts only one or another.
Dr. Melissa Read
I actually do prioritze rather well. I definitely suffer from task immediacy. I'm going to work on controlling my time better.