Without priorities, our highly digital and connected world will consume our attention, time, and good will. We become victims of rabbit holes, wasted time, lost focus and meaningless work.
But alas, it doesn’t have to be this way. We can set priorities and say no to everything that keeps us from where we want to go.
When we say “this meeting is important”, what do we actually mean? Important relative to what? How does it stack up against the other five things on your plate? How does its impact compare to the impact sixty minutes of interrupted and focused work will have on this upcoming deadline?
Setting priorities is more than an act of assigning numbers to a series of to-do’s. It’s a way to answer the very important question what’s most important right now? sooner rather than later.
When our priorities are in line we can focus our attention on what is important and not what simply feels important.
Finally, we can stop beating around the bush, and instead, start making things better.