How to Prioritize Tasks: 4 Simple Methods

A long to-do list is not the problem. The problem is deciding what to do first when everything feels important. Prioritising well is a skill, and these four simple methods give you a clear way to rank your work instead of reacting to whatever shouts loudest.

1. The Eisenhower Matrix

Sort every task by two questions: is it urgent, and is it important? That gives four groups:

• Urgent and important: do these now.
• Important but not urgent: schedule these, because this is where your best work usually lives.
• Urgent but not important: delegate or do quickly.
• Neither: drop them.

The real value of this method is that it separates urgent from important, which are not the same thing.

2. The ABC method

Label each task A, B or C. A tasks have serious consequences if you skip them, B tasks are nice to finish, and C tasks would be pleasant but do not matter much. Do all your A tasks before touching a B. It is quick, and it stops small C tasks from eating a day.

3. Eat the frog

Pick the single most important or most dreaded task and do it first thing, before email and messages pull you in other directions. Finishing your hardest task early builds momentum and means the rest of the day cannot be a total loss.

4. Most Important Tasks (MITs)

Each morning, choose one to three tasks that would make the day a success. Those are your MITs, and they come before everything else. Limiting yourself to three forces you to choose, which is the whole point of prioritising.

Turn priorities into action

A method only helps if it reaches your actual task list. Our free To-Do List lets you set each task to high, medium or low priority and sorts your active tasks by priority automatically, so your most important work sits at the top. You can also set deadlines and get a daily email reminder of what is left.

The takeaway

Pick one method and use it consistently. Separate urgent from important, do your hardest task first, and cap your daily must-do list at a handful of items. Good prioritising is less about doing more and more about doing the right things in the right order.