Responding To Changing Priorities
One of the most distressing things about priority lists is they seem to grow and mutate every moment. You no sooner get a nice neat list buttoned down and settle down to do it when the phone rings, some piece of paper is handed to you, the customer calls, your boss comes rushing in, or some other unforeseen event interrupts your day. Inevitably this seems to happen even before you get started on the first item. How often have you lifted up your head after missing lunch realizing that the things you had intended to do that day haven’t even been started and you spent all your time on other things! This is because priorities tend to change constantly, and new work flows in at an alarming rate.
How to handle this?
The first thing to do is to realize that priority lists must be in constant flux. The list that you have at any given time is only valid until something new comes on your desk which requires you to reexamine the entire list. If you think of yourself as having three items set into a simple priority of A, B, and C and then something else enters in, you immediately add it to the list. This results in lists that could stretch from A to Z!
In addition, new items may be more important than the ones you already have; and so you have to add to the top of the list as well as the bottom. You now have A +, A++, and A+++ priorities!
Rather than letting this constant addition above and below the existing list be a worry, recognize that all priority lists have A’s, B’s, and C’s. Your original A, B, and C no longer exist. The A+++ has become your “A”, the A++ has become your “B”, and A+ has become your “C”. Everything else is lower than that. While this may be frustrating because you really had your mind set on completing your original list, you need to remain flexible and recognize that your priorities will change.
In order to establish some peace of mind simply keep juggling so that you know what is the most important, what is next, and what follows that. If they stay in place long enough to accomplish them in that order, great. If not then re-juggle and remain focused on the most important priority.
Two particular bits of advice in this area:
- Persevere: As much as possible try not to juggle items on the priority list until the item you are currently working on is completed. If it is a large item break it into smaller pieces and at least ensure that you have completed one piece before juggling your priorities and leaving some items unfinished.
- Plan for change: One thing which I’ve done successfully is keep uncommitted time as a priority. For example, I leave an hour every morning free with nothing scheduled in it, and no plans for it. If at the beginning of the day, or at the tail end of the previous day, some urgent need requires my immediate attention then I’ve already got the time set aside for it (that one unplanned hour at the beginning of each day) which I then can allocate to this unforeseen task, without putting at risk all my other priorities.
If nothing surfaces requiring that unscheduled hour, then I simply use it to get ahead of my priorities and begin with the first priority of the day in that hour.
The real secret in managing priorities is to keep the list simple and clear and not get frustrated with, or flustered by, constant change. If you’re able to identify the most important thing at any given point in time and focus on that, persevering through to the completion, then your efficiency will be at its maximum.
