Priorities-Lower Stress & other Benefits

A concern or question I hear a lot is around focus. With so many competing priorities how can we manage to navigate the abyss of tasks & activities? Some people seem to do if effortlessly and other seem to have trouble managing effectively, resulting in some level of stress. The best way to combat the impacts of stress are to recognize its cause and impart strategies to relieve the root cause. If you find that multiple tasks or activities are conflicting triggering a stress reaction, here is an easy effective way to help isolate stress caused by conflicting priorities. 

There are multiple ways to assess priority. One way, to look at the priority of an outcome (goal, etc..) or desired outcome is by assessing it between two dimensions - the EXPECTATION and the EFFORT. EXPECTATION can be defined as the desired result from the task/activity. It can be anything, a sale you want to close, a report filed or any task/activity you can measure. The EFFORT is all the energies that are undertaken to complete the task/activity. EFFORT is your time invested, the time your staff invests, or monies invested – any energy inputs. It’s almost like doing a quick “back of the envelope” ROI in your head. 

Once you understand the interplay of those dimensions you can start to assess a level of priority.

Simply ask yourself:

“What is the impact of doing this task?”

If you look within those dimensions you can compare it to another task you need to do and then see what is more critical. 

For those who are visual learners, you can easily see this on a grid, a simple two-dimension graph. You can see from the graph what the activity means to you. If the payoff or EXPECTATION is high and the EFFORT is high – its worth your time and is probably a high priority item. In the opposite direction, if the EXPECTATION & EFFORT are low, then why is it even on your radar? Do this type of exercise a few times and it will become second nature. 

BENEFITS from using this approach:

·      Reduce your stress triggers,

·      Free up your mental capacity to tackle other issues that arise,

·      Become more assertive in your decision-making process,

·      Be recognized as someone who is a strategic thinker.

A simple example from a typical Monday morning at the office: 

·      Your expense report is due Friday morning.   

·      You just got a call from the CFO and a revenue analysis is required to be filed externally by Wednesday close-of-business – NO EXCEPTIONS. 

Your expense report does not take a lot of time to prepare, can be done quickly/accurately, but is still expected to be submitted to ensure all expenses are captured appropriately and in the correct period incurred. However, the revenue analysis will take a lot of effort to gather/analyze the data, review the report, get approvals and finalize prior to submission. There is a high amount of effort and the expectations are high. 

So, based on those dimensions, you should find more clarity on where to invest your time.

(p.s. if your working on your expense report Monday afternoon and the revenue analysis is not started…you missed the point!)