How to Prioritise Tasks When Everything Seems Urgent
By: Rejoice Denhere
Tags: Planning, Life Strategy, Business, Self Improvement, Life

How to Prioritise Tasks When Everything Seems Urgent

Run your life instead of letting life run you

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images on Pixabay

Do nothing.

Yes. That’s right. Stop and give yourself time to think. When everything seems urgent our brains go into overdrive.

According to Harvard Health Publishing — When someone experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. This area of the brain functions like a command center, communicating with the rest of the body through the nervous system so that the person has the energy to fight or flee.

In this state we tend to panic, we can’t think clearly because we’re in fight or flight mode.

Our decision-making capacity is significantly reduced. We’re more likely to prioritise the wrong things rather than what is really important.

Calm Down

When you feel under pressure and overwhelmed, do nothing. Calm yourself down, breathe for ten minutes, think of something else and then re-look at the situation. When you are calm you are in a better position to think creatively.

Have you ever noticed how solutions to problems come when you’re in the shower, or when you’re out running, or walking?

Being in a relaxed state is the first thing you should aim for when everything seems urgent. Everything and everyone is demanding your attention.

Walk Away

I recall an incident at work. It was one of those days when you think — why did I get out of bed? The minute I walked into the office I could sense the tension. Phones were ringing, staff just looked stressed. Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong that day. Impromptu meetings were being called, this decision or action had to be made NOW. Tempers were running high.

I remember pushing my chair back after yet another stressful call and leaving my desk.

“Where are you going?” a colleague asked. “Your phone’s ringing.”

I felt like my head was about to explode. I went to the toilet and sat there for a good five minutes just breathing and praying. When I returned to my desk I was calmer and more composed.

“People have been looking for you,” my colleague said.

I’d only been gone for five minutes, but she spoke as if I’d been gone all morning. Feeling more in control of myself I was able to identify and deal with the most important issues.

Don’t Get Sucked Into the Drama

Anything can be urgent if you let it. When dealing with other people remember that they’ll always negotiate on their own behalf. So whatever is important to them will be deemed as urgent.

Don’t get sucked into that dark hole. If your manager gives you five tasks which are urgent and all need to be completed that day, you could say, “Which of these would you like me to do first?” Insist on specific deadline dates. Throw the ball back in his or her court and let them decide what is to be prioritised. If a task will require more time to complete, point this out and enlist help, if available. Ensure what younagree is in writing. For instance, after agreeing on how your tasks will be prioritised send an email summarising the discussion.

Be Prepared

You know those “drop everything and do this instead" moments. They sneak up on us unexpectedly and there’s nothing you can do. It could be a crisis at work. It could be something personal where you or a family member is taken ill.

I was a Girl Guide when I was young. Our motto was — Be prepared.

The true meaning of that only hit me in adulthood. I asked myself — How on earth do you prepare for emergencies when they have this tendency to literally take you by surprise.

Through reflection I realised that you can’t. After all you don’t know what form the emergency will take, or when it will happen. To get round this problem I came up with a strategy. This is what I have learnt to do.