Don't be misguided! Prioritization is an inside game. It always depends on You!
Jonathan Zaluke
5 Ways to Prioritize Anything.
Find the true priority of everything.
Many productivity apps allow users to prioritize a task by assigning a label or icon that reminds them of its urgency or importance. This approach rarely works since our human instinct has always been inclined to confuse urgency and priority. The Firstly app follows a guided approach to prioritization that is just as easy to follow – yet more effective, by helping you weigh the level of importance and meaningfulness of the task from a personal perspective.
Here are Firstly‘s three steps to help you do more of what matters to you and live your life with purpose.
Clarity
The first step in prioritization is to get clear of who you want to be and what you want in life. Remember that you will come back to this first step many times throughout your life, and both who you want to be and what you want in life might be different each time. After all, that's what growing is all about. So don't overthink it. Skipping this step might compromise the entire process, and you might end up working with someone else's priorities.
Selection
The second step is to select the right prioritizer, depending on the task at hand and your life goals. The focusPrioritizer tool currently offers five different prioritizers to help guide you through the prioritization process. As simple and easy to use, these prioritizers are very effective and efficient in finding the true priority of any task. Here they are:
One Goal Target
Great for going after and achieving all your life goals one at a time.
Advantages
- Keeping top of mind your current number one life goal.
- Avoiding procrastination.
- Achieving your dreams one at a time.
Input
- Type in the one Big Goal that you’d like to achieve.
Process
- You will be reminded of your current One Big Goal and you will prioritize a task based on how it relates to your goal.
Self-Welness
Focus on tasks that contribute towards your growth and wellness.
Advantages
- Significant and positive change in all aspects of your life.
- Becoming the best version of yourself.
Process
- First, select one of the eight wellness dimensions that relate best to the task. This step will add more context to the following step.
- Then, prioritize the task based on how crucial it is to your self-betterment.
Personal
Focus on what you personally deem important and meaningful.
Advantages
- Inner peace & Happiness.
- Empowering your self-worth.
Process
- The key here is to use what you believe deep within yourself is important or meaningful.
- A task is prioritized based on how important and meaningful it is to you on a personal level.
Eisenhower
Prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency.
Advantages
- Becoming proactive.
- Avoiding procrastination.
Process
- Inspired from the Urgent-Important Matrix popularized by Stephen Covey in his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
- To prioritize a task, think about its urgency and importance, then select the appropriate quadrant for it.
H-M-L
Stands for High-Medium-Low. Use your own judgment to prioritize the tasks
Advantages
- Being flexible.
- Being decisive.
Attention
- This prioritizer follows a similar process as most apps in the industry. There is less guidance, so Firstly provides some tips to help.
Tips
- High – Worthy of your precious time
- Medium – Do when scheduled or delegate
- Low – Skip if possible or delegate
Process
- To prioritize a task, select the priority you would assign it. (high, medium, or low)
Action
The last step is to focus on completing your First priority tasks or activities.