Prioritizing Our Life

Welcome to The Sunday Starter, a weekly email of tools and techniques, that will help navigate the journey to just get started and keep moving forward.

Have you ever looked back on the day and was like “WTF…Where’d the day go?”

You realized you were busy and exhausted but didn’t feel you got anything of relevance completed.

We tick off “to-do” items thinking that the more we do the better we feel. But if the work isn’t significant it doesn’t make an impact on us.

There are always going to be “to-do” items.

→ But what should be prioritized?

That’s going to be our focus in this edition of the newsletter.

How we schedule our day or what time management tool we use doesn’t matter until we understand our priorities and keep those in check.

Prioritize what matters to us and we’ll start living a more stress-free and balanced life.

One of my favorite visuals of all time is the Eisenhower Matrix or you may have heard of it referred to as the “Important/Urgent Matrix”. If you aren’t familiar with it it’s what President Dwight D. Eisenhower used to prioritize his time.

Here’s the quick run-down:

Important-Urgent (top left) → These are tasks that are both highly important and unplanned, requiring immediate attention.

 Examples: A client needs a proposal for an unexpected board meeting, your child has a hand injury that requires stitches, or your dog ran away.

Important-Not Urgent (top right)→ These tasks are highly important for the overall mission but have a future focus. While they can be postponed without immediate consequences, neglecting them could negatively impact your life. This is the quadrant where the most successful people spend their time.

 Examples: Maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly, attending your kid's soccer game, having a date night with your spouse, and working on your business idea.

Not Important-Urgent (bottom left)→ These tasks tend to distract us from the work that truly needs to be accomplished. While they may require our attention, their urgency is primarily due to their interruption.

 Examples: Email and social media notifications, doorbell ringing from an Amazon delivery.

Not Important-Not Urgent (bottom right) → These tasks are the least significant because they are unnecessary and often can be eliminated. They do not require immediate action and might not even need to be completed at all.

 Examples: Spam emails, many “to-do” list items, checking social media.

This matrix is a simple reminder of how we can categorize all of the tasks that are flying around and easily bucket them into their proper categories.

It gives us a quick filing system to work off of.

But, remember, the happiest and most successful people live in the “Important-Not Urgent" Quadrant. 

So, how do we spend more time there?

→ We must focus on the top-priority items and do those more often.

That’s what we are going to set ourselves up with next.

Has this type of scenario (or something similar) happened to you? Your boss says, “We are having a team meet-up next Wednesday night. I’d love for you to be there.” Which is code for “I expect you to be there.”

→ However, Wednesday nights are date nights for you and your spouse.

Certainly, you can have a conversation with your spouse and move it to another day, if agreed on. But what if you already had plans to go to a show and had tickets? What if things were moved the week prior already? What if…?

If we don’t prioritize what is most important to us we won’t know that it’s worth it in the now and it could start to deteriorate over the long haul.

We start to lose control over our life.

Where we run into trouble is the things that are right in our faces are pleading for our attention and end up taking precedence over other more important items.

We answer the phone while we are with our friends, we show up late because we had to send that work email, and we miss our kid's game because we were told the meeting was important and couldn’t be missed.

Throughout our day we are challenged with defending our priorities.

But what are our priorities?

Let’s find out by doing a simple exercise.

Step 1:

Set a 10-minute timer → Allocate 10 minutes to jot down your thoughts, leaving room for adjustments. Feel free to extend the time if needed.

Step 2:

Create a priority list → Use pen and paper for a more personal experience. Expect changes as you write, reorder, or cross out items. The tactile nature enhances the exercise's authenticity.

Step 3:

Dive deeper → If you listed "Sleep/Rest," as an example, make it more specific. You might say, “Aim for 8 hours of sleep” or a “Bedtime of 11 pm”. These details aid in effective planning, even though they may evolve over time.

Step 4:

Keep it visible → Place your list where you'll frequently see it, like a bathroom mirror or office wall. By keeping your priorities in sight, you hold yourself accountable for their importance.

Reminder:

This list will most likely be somewhere between 4-7 items long and it will be ever-changing in regards to what holds “top priority” but having it written out reminds us of the most important things in our life.

It helps us make better decisions when something comes to us urgently and we feel ourselves getting distracted.

The list becomes the gold standard for our focus and decision-making.

Here’s My Challenge:

Now that you have your priority list let’s map out your next week.

That’s it, just one week to get you started.

What are the big items that you want to “prioritize”?

Kids ballgame, gym, date night, important client meeting, etc.

Let’s put those “priorities” on the calendar now.

How much time do you think they’ll take? (Make sure you add some buffers for travel/transition time)

Here’s the caveat, based on your life and what’s happening in it your priority list may shift. Be open and accepting of that.

 Example: As a single dad, I get to be with my son every other week. So, although he is #1 on my priority list when I have him, the weeks I don’t it’s hard to prioritize him because he’s not with me. Other things move up the list during that time.

It is not a one-size fits all. This needs to align with the flow of your life.

How does this all feel? 

→ Do you normally plan these important things out or fly by the seat of your pants?

→ Do you normally let the not important tasks overshadow the important ones?

→ Do you procrastinate and get distracted from the things that matter most?

I do. It’s completely normal and the first step is recognizing that we do this and then being willing to correct course that helps us move forward.

This exercise is a vital key to becoming more disciplined overall but it starts with understanding priorities so we can make smart decisions for the long term.

From there, we can better manage our time and attention.

I’ll leave you with a quote to think about for the next week…

What’s Coming Next…

We’re going to chat about how to effectively manage our time and get the most important work completed amid distractions and procrastination.

🙏 Thank You For Supporting This Newsletter

❓What did you think? I’d love feedback in order to continue to make this a superb resource for everyone. It can be positive or negative. Nothing is off limits so reply to this email and I’d love to hear from you.

✅ When you complete the challenge, I’d love to see a screenshot of your calendar or hear what “priority” task you completed despite something urgent coming up. Reply directly to this email and please share.

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