Everything is a priority, so nothing is a priority. Yes, that is what I consider priority overload.
I once worked for an employer where everything was urgent. Every answer to a question or deliverable was considered late. “We needed this last week.”
When I asked my manager for the criteria to use to prioritize my work, his response was not what I needed. It was vague and not based on anything I could follow consistently and feel confident in.
I watched him consistently work 60 plus hour workweeks and I realized that was how he responded to the “everything is urgent” workplace culture.
The compensation team rarely received the recognition they deserved. The “meets expectations” standard was very high and difficult to reach. And employee burnout happened across the company as the list of priorities was long and never ending.
Years earlier in my career I had another manager who would say often, “We work in HR not the ER.” And “poor planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency on my part.” I liked working for her because she planned, effectively communicated priorities, and didn’t expect long workdays every single day.
Yes, there were urgent things that the compensation department needed to respond to, but her approach was intentional and based on business needs. There was a celebration when we achieved something critical. There was recognition and gratitude expressed for day to day and project work deliverables.
Today I am reviewing my “To Do List” and categorizing the work with two approaches.
The first is an impact and urgency matrix, and you end up with four categories:
1. Do: High impact, high urgency.
2. Schedule: High impact, low urgency.
3. Delegate: Low impact, high urgency.
4. Delete: Low impact, low urgency.
The second approach is an impact and effort matrix. Again, you end up with four categories:
1. Major tasks: High impact, high effort.
2. Quick wins: High impact, low effort.
3. Thankless: Low impact, high effort.
4. Fill-ins: Low impact, low effort.
Do you have a prioritization approach that you find useful? If so, please share it in the comments below.
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