Priorities: Definition, Lists, & Tips
It takes a clear list of priorities to effectively manage your time and know what matters while progressing toward your goals. If you constantly take on too many tasks, you may eventually become stressed.
If you’re not sure if you’re overburdened with too many responsibilities in life, take our free Life Assessment to find out.
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Remember that your goal is a target date in the future. Priorities are the things you must establish and focus on in order to achieve your goal.
When you have a list of priorities, you will have a better chance of making changes and making decisions that are in line with your life mission.
Everyone is unique, and everyone has different priorities. However, there are some common threads that unite us all.
You may not find that every item on this list of priorities speaks to you, but at least a few of them will.
If you are unsure about your priorities, these may assist you in determining where you should focus your thoughts and energy.
What are Priorities?
Priorities are things that are considered more important than other things. So something that is a high priority is more important (to us) and thus more frequently or carefully attended to (or so the goal is).
But what happens if we don’t know what our top priorities are? What if we’re having trouble juggling competing high-priority tasks? Or, what if we’re simply too busy to get to the important stuff?
If you’re reading this, you’re probably looking for more assistance in setting or managing priorities. So let’s go over them a little more in depth now.
How to Set Priorities
In best practice, we would devote the majority of our time and attention to the most important tasks. But, in order to do so, we must first consider our priorities. What exactly is our top priority?
The answer is likely to vary depending on which aspect of our lives we are considering. Are we establishing work priorities, relationship priorities, family priorities, or life priorities in general?
We should probably examine each of these life domains to gain a better understanding of different types of priorities, how they fit together, and how they may compete with one another.
So, let’s go over each set of priorities in order to determine which are your top priorities in each life domain.
Work Priorities
Setting work priorities can help us ensure that we get the most important things done, as well as help us climb the career ladder or move into more rewarding roles.
To establish work priorities, make a list of the major tasks that must be completed. Then, in order of importance, list these tasks.
Make a note of whether one task must come before another or is dependent on another.
For example, before I can publish articles, I must first write them. Even though publishing articles is a high priority for me, writing takes precedence because it must.
As an example, here is my list of work priorities.
Example list of priorities for work
‣ Writing articles
‣ Publishing articles
‣ Attending to high-value or time-sensitive customers or clients
‣ Creating new programs
‣ Drafting the newsletter
‣ Researching topics to write about
‣ Answering emails
‣ Accounting
‣ Meetings
‣ Website maintenance
Your Life Mission
Your life missions are priorities that provide meaning and happiness to your life. These are the things that motivate you to go beyond success and work on something meaningful in your life.
What do you hope to achieve in life? You will always achieve your goals if you prioritize those things without compromising your commitment to them.
Define your mission statement and the steps you must take to achieve your life’s purpose.
Once you’ve determined your life missions, organize your tasks and ensure that every item on your to-do list reflects those missions.
Refuse to work on anything that does not align with your life’s purpose. Go ahead and lose weight if you want to. If your life mission necessitates oratory skills, commit to practicing them.
The bottom line is that your to-do list should reflect your personal and professional objectives.
Relationship Priorities
Setting priorities for our relationships (whether romantic or social) can assist us in getting more out of them. Perhaps there are some people we prefer to see more than others.
Perhaps there are some activities that strengthen our relationships while others leave us feeling unsatisfied.
Or maybe there are things we need to do to keep our relationships strong.
Take a moment to think about some of your relationship priorities. Here are some of mine that you can use as an example.
Example List of Priorities for Romantic Relationships
‣ Be honest with each other
‣ Laugh together
‣ Listen & understand before responding
‣ Make dinner together once per week
‣ Do kind things for my partner
My partner and I have established an honesty code in which we tell each other the truth, even if it is unpleasant.
We’ve discovered that if we don’t stick to that top priority, all the other relationship maintenance stuff doesn’t really have the same benefits.
As a result, that one comes first.
Family Priorities
Another important area of focus is our families—our children, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
What are the highest priority actions you must take to ensure the health of these relationships? Your response may vary greatly depending on your family dynamic or your relationships with specific family members. So, take a moment to consider your family’s top priorities.
Example of a Family Priority List
‣ Set firm boundaries.
‣ Check in during times of crisis
‣ Talk on the phone on a regular basis.
‣ Express your true feelings
Family relationships can be difficult for some people, so prioritize actions that will improve them as much as possible.
For example, I know that setting clear boundaries is extremely important to me.
I have a habit of letting people walk all over me (especially family), and if I don’t prioritize that, I end up resentful.
Physical Health Priority
Your health is extremely important and should be at the top of your priority list. It determines your wealth, comfort, and overall outlook. [1]
Poor health deprives you of happiness and lowers your overall productivity. This is why it is critical to break the cycle of poor health.
Here are some reasons why your physical well-being should be high on your priority list:
‣ When you are healthy, you can only be more productive and focused.
‣ Your sleep quality will improve.
‣ When you interact with other people, you will be in a better mood.
‣ You will be more motivated to complete your life’s mission.
‣ You will have a high sense of self-esteem. Sickness saps your self-esteem.
Financial Priority
Money is not inconsequential. While money cannot buy happiness, it is necessary to earn enough to live happily ever after.
When you’re struggling to pay your bills or feed yourself, life can be miserable, so prioritize your finances!
“Make money work for you rather than working all your life for money.”
Robert’s advice is simply to work on your savings and investment goals.
So, how do you prioritize and improve your financial situation?
Determine your income-producing assets and income-depleting liabilities. Then, increase your assets while decreasing your liabilities.
Also, save as much as you can to make your life easier in the future. You can also invest your savings in any low-risk project that will provide you with passive income in the short and long term.
Finally, try to avoid debt as much as possible and save for emergencies.
What are Your Essential Priorities?
If you’ve given some thought to your priorities in each of your life domains, you’re probably wondering, “How do I prioritize my priorities?”
So, take a moment to review or reflect on your top priorities in each life domain. Combine these into a single long list of priorities, with the most important ones at the top.
This may not be an easy task. All of our priorities may appear to be equally important and they may be but do your best to prioritize.
Don’t worry, your list will be kept private. So try not to feel guilty or concerned about what others think.
Simply concentrate on what is most important to you. However, keep in mind that your priorities may shift over time, which is perfectly normal.
I’ve gotten pretty comfortable sharing all sorts of things about my well-being on this website, so here’s an example of my top priorities list.
Example List of Top Priorities
‣ Be honest & kind
‣ Grow my business
‣ Overcome a long-term health issue
‣ Grow my self-confidence
‣ Save enough money to move near family
My current top priorities reflect my current life, and yours are likely to do the same.
Priorities that Compete
So far, we’ve discussed priorities in a way that resembles an ordered list of objectives.
Even if we’ve managed to prioritize and focus on the most important ones, there will inevitably be times when our top priorities clash. Here’s how it’s done:
Priorities Compete for Time
Priorities compete with each other for time in the most fundamental way. There are only 24 hours in a day. We won’t have time for our second priority if we spend the entire day on our first.
However, if we devote the same amount of time to each priority, we will progress so slowly on all of them that we will become frustrated and give up.
I’ve discovered that focusing on one or two time-intensive priorities at a time works best for me. Growing my business and dealing with my health issue, for example, take a lot of time.
I’d like to spend more time with friends and go to the gym, but I just don’t have the time.
Don’t forget about your secondary priorities; write them down somewhere. But it’s also important not to overburden yourself. This has the potential to exhaust us, which is the opposite of what you want.
Priorities Clash With Values
Another difficult way for priorities to compete is by pulling at different values. For example, in order to overcome my health problem, I must eat well, sleep well, and reduce stress as much as possible.
It corresponds to my value of work-life balance.
However, my priority to grow my business is somewhat at odds with this value. It takes a lot of effort, a lot of time, and a lot of stressful activities.
Priorities that compete with values may be more difficult to execute. Many entrepreneurs, for example, work long hours and push themselves extremely hard in order to grow a business.
To ensure that my priorities do not conflict with my values, I must pursue them in ways that are consistent with my values.
So I work no more than 8 hours per day, try to get some sun and exercise during the day, and set my goals based on what I know works for me.
When reviewing your priorities, make a note of any potential value conflicts. You may need to consider how you can act on these priorities in ways that do not contradict your personal values.
Priorities Management
Even when we know what our priorities are, we can struggle to do the things we know we should do. That’s when the Eisenhower box (described further below) comes in handy.
It can help us understand how to stop doing the low-priority activities that consume the majority of our time.
This section categorizes tasks as Urgent/Important, Not Urgent/Important, Urgent/Not Important, and Not Urgent/Not Important.
When we know which tasks belong in which category, we can make decisions that will help us stay on track with our priorities.
For example, we may decide to delegate housecleaning to the kids or lawn mowing to a yard services company.
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Taking Charge of Your Priorities
Another thing to think about is what makes it easier or more difficult for us to stick to our priorities.
Are there people, for example, who make it difficult for you to stick to your priorities? Are there any circumstances that make it difficult to stick to your priorities?
Or are there aspects of yourself that make it difficult to stick to your priorities? Understanding our own unique roadblocks can help us devise solutions to overcome them.
For example, both my husband and I work from home. I’m aware that if I start talking to him, I’ll end up spending hours just having fun with him, and my other priorities will suffer as a result.
So we’ve devised a plan in which we can only talk during designated break times.
Another issue I have is that I become obsessive when I’m working on a project. My work time bleeds into my family time, just as my family time bleeds into my work time.
Despite the fact that I have a rule against working on weekends in the evenings, I spent the entire weekend working on a project.
By the time Monday rolled around, I was desperate for a break and had missed my chance to spend the weekend with loved ones. Arg!
In any case, paying attention to your patterns and habits can shed light on what you’re doing well and what needs to be structured or changed. In this manner, you can
Final Thoughts on Priorities
If you are still unsure about your top priorities, you should sit down and make a list of everything that is important to you.
For example, if you are burnt out and it is affecting your health, you must prioritize your health. You cannot focus or be productive if you are not healthy.
The following step is to devise a game plan. For example, you could emphasize what you can do to avoid burnout.
It could be practicing mindfulness, consulting with a psychologist, or taking a break from work. Then, schedule time to put your game plan into action.
Finally, to see if you’re on track, take a self-assessment test. If you require assistance in evaluating your progress, you can talk to your accountability partner, spouse, colleague, or mentor.
I will round off with the words of Brandon Sanderson, a successful American fiction writer and the brain behind Cosmere Universe
“The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things to accomplish the vital ones.”
Share this article among friends or family who lacks life priority to help them shape their life in good form.
CSN Team.
