First, ask yourself this question: “If I only got a few things done this
week, what would I want them to be?” Mark these high-priority tasks
with an “H” or an “A.” After you have identified the “urgent” items,
consider those tasks that are least important—items that could wait
until the following week to be done, if necessary. (This may include
tasks you consider very important but that don’t have to be completed
this week.) These are low-priority items, at least for this week—mark
them with an “L” or a “C.”
All the other items fit somewhere between the critical tasks and the
low-priority ones. Review the remaining items. If you’re sure none
of them are particularly low or high priority, mark them with an
“M,” for middle priority, or a “B.”
Strategy tip:If you push aside the same low-priority item day after
day, week after week, at some point you should just stop and decide
whether it’s something you need to do at all! This is a strategic way
to make a task or problem “disappear.” In the business world, some
managers purposefully avoid confronting a number of problems, wait-
ing to see if they will simply solve themselves through benign neglect.
If it works in business, it can work in school. (But if you find yourself
consistently moving “B” or even “A” priorities from day to day, reassess
your system. Something’s broken.)
A completed Priority Task Sheet is on page 95. A blank Priority Task
Sheet you can photocopy is on page 98.
Have you been taking the time to estimate how long each task
will take, and adjusting your projections when it’s clear certain tasks
invariably take longer than you think? Terrific! Here’s a way to use
such estimating as a great motivator: Instead of writing down how
long a task will take, write down the time you intend to finish it.
What’s the difference? It has now become a goal. It may put just the
slightest amount of pressure on you, making you try just a little harder
to finish on time.
Chapter 4 ■How to Organize Your TIme 87