How to prioritize tasks in a busy working day?

It is tricky to do many things at the same time. Especially if you are working, parenting, running a business and have many responsibilities at the same time.

When you are in this spot and you wonder what to do, I think the most important word here is priority. It is important to prioritize what matters to you in that context and in that moment of time.

The common areas in life that we run daily are career, family and business. Of course with our context, there comes other social obligations like attending social events like weddings and other related gatherings, visiting extended family members and any other social-related task you can think of.

The difficult part is when you are back from work in a week day exhausted and burned out. And you receive this statement: We have a wedding today to attend. They are close family members. We need to be there. In such a scenario, the prioritizing becomes even more important. But then you wonder: What if I upset them if I apologize of not attending? What if they feel bad? What if and what if? Well we live in the industrial age where you find people are busy and come back home exhausted and out of energy. The only thing I think of end of a working day is settle, ground and get still before I start another working day.

The problem is people just think you are psychologically powerful and you can take more and more tasks throughout your day. This doesn’t make any sense. We as humans have got capacities and limits as well of what we can take on and what we can’t take.

So if you are also in a similar position, consider the following steps.

First, consider the overall big picture of your weekly schedule. What are the tasks you do? What is their importance level? How much time you take to complete them? How is your energy levels in those days? What tasks can you include and not include? When you do this, you get to prioritize the tasks you need to include and the tasks you need to reject.

Second, do a daily check in for your psychological state. How do you feel end of your working day? What you need to do to settle and come back to your senses? Who are the people you want to spend time with? How can you fill up your mental and emotional cup? I think when you work and get busy throughout your day, you can easily lose yourself and get swept away. So it is key to attain to your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs end of the day.

Third, don’t hesitate to put boundaries that suit you. What we mean by boundaries? Well they are the limits you create for yourself in any area of life. For example, you work and you receive this request from your boss: You need to come to office to complete this task on a Saturday. Your boundary here could be: Well sorry, but Saturday is a time spent with my family. I will come do it on Sunday.

Another example is you are at work. You are busy doing your job. Suddenly your friend calls and wants to tell you this serious problem she is facing. Your boundary here could be: I am sorry dear. But I am busy now. After a couple of hours I will be free to hear you and chat with you.

At the end, it is not that simple to juggle between many tasks on the same day. Others may believe it is ok. But for you it is not and you have got to prioritize your life.