One of the most important things that any business needs to do to ensure that it is successful is ensuring that it is working as efficiently as it possibly can be. Having a workload that quickly becomes out of control is all too familiar with many companies and so it is vital that you have a workload that is well-structured to keep good time management and ensure that your productivity is not affected. So, do you want to know more about how to prioritize tasks? If you want to find out more about how you can effectively prioritize tasks in the workplace, then makes sure you carry on reading to find out all our top tips on how you can achieve this.
Make a To Do List
Making a to do list might seem old-fashioned, but it something that really does work when you are prioritizing tasks. While people used to use the good old pen and paper method, there is no longer any need for multiple pieces of paper to be lying around as you can use a system such as Kanban boards. Kanban tasks is a digital way to make to do lists and will help you to keep track of your project and any upcoming deadlines. By using Kanban to prioritize tasks, you can rank tasks in their order of importance and you will be able to visualise what is the most important and plan your day around ensuring that these tasks are completed.
Reviewing Work
When you are trying to prioritise tasks, it is also important that you regularly review your work to ensure that everything is being completed and that you are not missing important deadlines. Most people tend to find that there are specific tasks that tend to end up going from the top of the list, down to the bottom each day. If this is the case, it might be worth seeing if someone else can complete this task or of there are other projects that you can delegate where you don’t have to be heavily involved in them.
Follow the 80:20 Rule
Have you ever heard of the 80:20 rule before? Essentially, this rule makes it so that you only concentrate on the most important 20% of your workload as this will ensure that the most vital work is being carried out to a high standard.
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Set Realistic Deadlines
While we would all love to be able to make clients extremely happy by completing projects within the day, it is important that realistic deadlines are set for tasks and that you are not being too overoptimistic. Figure out what you can achieve in a working week and this will ensure that you don’t quickly feel overwhelmed by your workload.
Set Time Aside for Interruptions
A common scenario in the office is to sit down, ready to complete a task, only for someone else to interrupt you with a request. If you have a deadline to meet, make sure that the only interruptions you take are those that are urgent, as all other requests can wait until your project is completed.
Structuring Your Workload
One of the biggest things that can stop you from completing tasks is simply starting a project, working on it a little, and then moving onto another half-completed task rather than finishing the one that you have started and ticking it off your list. Finish each task before starting your next one and this will ensure that you are motivated, on a roll and can start the text project refreshed.
Avoid Your Inbox
We’ve all been there where our entire day quickly becomes takes up with answering emails, leaving you no time for any other tasks. Instead, you should not check your inbox every single time a new message arrives to allow you to concentrate on completing other tasks. We would also recommend that you turn off your instant alerts so that you cannot be tempted to look at them as they pop up.
Tackle Challenging Projects
Many of us are guilty for tackling the easier items on our to do lists and feeling great when these have been checked off. However, instead of doing this, you should really be tackling the more challenging projects first to give you more time to complete them and knowing that it is done will be a massive weight off your shoulders.
Stop Multi-Tasking
When you start many jobs at once, chances are none will be completed and will be of the best quality. Focus on the project at hand rather than dividing and stretching your attention.
Log Your Work
Finally, if you are unsure of how long certain tasks take you, then it is a good idea to track this and keep a log of your working week. This will then help you to plan out your tasks in the future!
