{"id":972,"date":"2022-02-15T13:35:19","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T11:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bmugdev.wpengine.com\/?p=972"},"modified":"2022-02-15T13:35:21","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T11:35:21","slug":"how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work","title":{"rendered":"How to Prioritize Your Tasks For Productivity while at work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You just arrived at work and on opening your emails, yo found several tasks that need your attention. At a glance, they all look urgent and important but are they all urgent!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Eisenhower urgent\/ important matrix can be a great guide to organizing your day. The matrix helps you understand what tasks to attend to at what time and in what order, such that you stop feeling like every task on your in-tray is urgent and needs your immediate attention. This is also known as compartmentalizing and it helps you maximize your time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before utilizing the\u00a0 Eisenhower matrix, it helps to know how to compartmentalize your tasks first as listed below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-991 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/prioritize-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Prioritizing work tasks\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/prioritize-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/prioritize-770x578.jpg 770w, https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/prioritize-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/prioritize-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/prioritize-390x293.jpg 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f3844d750a4\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69f3844d750a4\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work\/#Understand_that_not_everything_is_urgent\" >Understand that not everything is urgent<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work\/#Allocate_time_to_each_task\" >Allocate time to each task<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work\/#Do_not_multitask\" >Do not multitask<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work\/#The_Eisenhower_Urgent_Important_Principle\" >The Eisenhower Urgent \/ Important Principle<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work\/#Important_and_urgent_tasks\" >Important and urgent tasks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work\/#Important_but_not_urgent_tasks\" >Important but not urgent tasks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work\/#Urgent_but_not_important_tasks\" >Urgent but not important tasks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/how-to-prioritize-your-tasks-for-productivity-while-at-work\/#Not_urgent_and_not_important\" >Not urgent and not important<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Understand_that_not_everything_is_urgent\"><\/span><b> Understand that not everything is urgent<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course your\u00a0 given tasks require your attention but not all of them have the same urgency needs. By realizing that, you are able to attend to tasks in order of priority, which results in an overall productivity boost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Allocate_time_to_each_task\"><\/span><b> Allocate time to each task<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, one way of staying organized is to ensure that you give time to each task such that when focusing on one task, you are not distracted by another. By doing this, you are simply ensuring that you do not give too much time to one task than you are supposed to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_not_multitask\"><\/span><b> Do not multitask<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doing several things at the same time means that no task is getting your full attention and this reduces your productivity as you do not perform at your best. Simply find one task and allocate enough time to accomplish.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Eisenhower_Urgent_Important_Principle\"><\/span><b>The Eisenhower Urgent \/ Important Principle<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eisenhower&#8217;s urgent principle\u00a0 will help you determine how to approach the tasks at hand as shown below;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-993 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-chart-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"approach the work  tasks at hand\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-chart-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-chart-770x513.jpg 770w, https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-chart-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-chart-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-chart-390x260.jpg 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Important_and_urgent_tasks\"><\/span><b>Important and urgent tasks<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Planning urgent tasks ahead helps have enough time to attend to all of them with some room left to unexpectedness. The solution is to do them immediately to avoid negative impacts to your productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Important_but_not_urgent_tasks\"><\/span><b>Important but not urgent tasks<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are those tasks that have an impact on others and the organization but they can wait as their delay will not negatively impact others. These tasks give you enough time to attend to them. Failure to complete them on time however graduates them to the important and urgent category so make time for them. Schedule such tasks based on how your day looks like.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Urgent_but_not_important_tasks\"><\/span><b>Urgent but not important tasks<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This may sound odd but there are tasks that need to be attended to urgently but they are not important. These are tasks that are basically about housekeeping, or administrative tasks such as submitting reports. They have consequences if not handled in good time but failure to handle them immediately will not have immediate consequences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Not_urgent_and_not_important\"><\/span><b>Not urgent and not important<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are those tasks that simply land on your desk for you to decide what to do with them. They could be things such as taking surveys, which do not have a direct impact on your work. They are tasks that you can ignore or attend to when you have cleared all your tasks. Do not stress about them and if possible, you can ignore them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In conclusion, give Eisenhower\u2019s urgent\/important principle to help you organize your work such that you do not get burnt out by trying to get everything done at once.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do you organize your tasks? Share with us<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This article originally appeared <\/span><a class=\"article-body-links\"href=\"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ke\/blog\/using-checklists-boost-productivity\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You just arrived at work and on opening your emails, you found several tasks that need your attention. This matrix can be a great guide to organizing your day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132],"tags":[],"content_author":[],"class_list":["post-972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-at-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=972"},{"taxonomy":"content_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightermonday.co.ug\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_author?post=972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}