How to Select and Filter Priroities
WHY would you want to: Ultimately, priorities determine productivity. What your prioritize most gets done the most, so one must prioritize the right things to get the right things done, a fairly simple concept. Often times, we try to prioritize everything, spreading our energy thin to as much as we can, making minimal progress everywhere instead of maximum progress somewhere. This tip will help you prioritize in an effective way.
WHERE I learned this: Essentialism by Greg McKeown. This book is about eliminating all non essentials and focusing on what truly matters. This tip is only a small aspect of essentialism but provides insight into the framework that constitutes essentialism.
WHAT the tip is: This tip is called The 90% Rule. Often times, we rank what we have to do on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most important and 1 being the least. It is important to note that for this rule to be effective, the scale must be on what is IMPORTANT, not what is URGENT, as the two are rarely aligned. The most productive people focus on the important tasks on their lists, the ones that will move the needle and propel them further in life, not the whirlwind of urgent tasks such as picking up vitamins from CVS. Once you have rated your tasks on importance, it is obvious everything less than a 7 is not important. We as humans love to use 7 as the median in a 1-10 scale for some reason, so anything that is 7 or above is at the very least, mildly important.
It may not be abundantly clear however that the 7s and 8s on your list should be cut as well. In terms of what is important (7-10), 7s and 8s are at the bottom of the list, making them the least important, important tasks. Instead, focus on the 9s and 10s, the top 90% of what you must do. These are the tasks that will push you forward the most towards your goals, as you rated them 9 or 10 for a reason. By eliminating half of your “important” tasks, you create more time and brain-space to focus on the WILDLY important. If you have leftover time, tackle the 7s and 8s, but your major focus should lie with the 9s and 10s.
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