How to Prioritise Your Work
Written by P Griffin February 2025
In today’s fast-paced business world, managing a demanding workload while ensuring critical tasks get the attention they deserve can feel overwhelming. For me, the biggest source of stress is the fear of forgetting something important—often the very thoughts that keep me awake at 3 a.m.
Writing down and organising your tasks won’t create more time, but it will help you focus on the most meaningful work while finding ways to delegate or intentionally remove less important tasks from your to-do list.
Without a clear system for prioritisation, it’s easy to become reactive rather than strategic, leading to stress, inefficiency, and missed opportunities. A simple yet effective way to stay in control is by using a prioritisation matrix, which helps categorise tasks based on urgency and importance, ensuring you focus on what truly matters.
The Prioritisation Matrix: A Structured Approach
A prioritisation matrix allows you to assess each task using two key factors:
- Urgency – Does this task require immediate action?
- Importance – Does this task significantly impact your business goals?
By evaluating tasks in this way, you can assign them to one of four categories:
1. Urgent & Important
Do These Now
Tasks that fall into this category are both time-sensitive and critical to success. These often include crisis management, major client issues, or deadlines that cannot be moved. Because they have significant consequences, they should be tackled immediately and given top priority.
Example: Finalising a high-value client proposal before a submission deadline.
2. Important but Not Urgent
Plan to Do These Later
These tasks contribute to long-term success but do not require immediate attention. They include strategic planning, professional development, and process improvements. Without an imminent deadline, they are often neglected. Scheduling time for them ensures long-term growth and stability.
Example: Developing a marketing strategy for the next quarter.
3. Urgent but Low Importance
Delegate These
These tasks demand immediate attention but do not directly contribute to key business goals. They often involve routine administrative work or minor issues that others in your team can handle. Delegating these tasks frees up your time for more impactful activities.
Example: Responding to routine emails that a team member could handle.
4. Neither Urgent nor Important
Eliminate These
Tasks in this category are distractions that do not add value to your business. These might include unnecessary meetings, excessive social media browsing, or outdated processes that no longer serve a purpose. Eliminating or minimising these activities improves efficiency and focus.
Example: Attending an unproductive meeting with no clear agenda or outcomes.
Practical Steps to Prioritise Effectively
- List All Tasks – Start by writing down everything you need to accomplish.
- Assess Importance and Urgency – Place each task into one of the four categories.
- Allocate Time Accordingly – Focus on high-priority tasks and schedule important but non-urgent work.
- Delegate Where Possible – Empower your team by assigning suitable tasks to others.
- Review and Adjust – Regularly revisit your priorities to ensure alignment with business goals.
A prioritisation matrix helps reduce stress, boost productivity, and enhance strategic thinking by ensuring focus on high-impact tasks. It also improves delegation, enabling teams to work more efficiently. By adopting a structured approach, you can take control of your workload and navigate challenges with confidence.
"Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important."
Stephen R. Covey
Free Apps Can Help You Manage Your Tasks & Priorities.
Rather than repeatedly rewriting your priority list on paper, it may be worth using a productivity app. This allows you to tick off completed tasks and add new priorities on your mobile devices as you go. Many apps also will allow you to still use the four priority levels outlined above and in the Priority Matrix, helping you focus on what is important, urgent, and strategic.
Some of the best free productivity and prioritisation apps I have come accross include Todoist for simple to-do lists, Google Calendar for scheduling with seamless integration, Trello for project management with visual boards, Google Keep for quick note-taking, AnyList for basic lists and collaboration, and Microsoft To Do for task management across devices. Each offers useful features to help you prioritise tasks effectively.
It’s worth exploring these options to find the platform that works best for you.
A popular choice for its clean interface and ability to set priorities with different levels of urgency.
Excellent for integrating with other Google services and managing schedules across multiple devices.
Great for creating and sharing lists and allows real-time collaboration, so multiple users can update.
Visual boards with cards allow for easy task organisation and prioritisation within projects.
Great for quick note-taking, list creation, and adding reminders.
Simple to-do list app with basic prioritisation features that integrates with other MS products.
If you or your team need support with prioritisation, download the free matrix tool above. For further assistance or tailored advice, feel free to contact me to discuss your specific needs.