98.8% Of all customers recommend us, we're so confident about our results we publish all reviews and stats
View Live Stats View ReviewsPrevious article Next article Time Management articles
A Matter Of Priority
Sat 24th April 2010
Although interruptions and little emergencies can eat into the time of the most organised worker, for the most part the hours of the working day can be arranged so that maximum productivity is achieved. And one of the most useful skills to possess for effective time management is the ability to prioritise your workload.
To return to the ornithological theme, we've all seen on Springwatch how the mother bird goes about feeding her clutch of chicks in the nest. The chicks are all vying for her attention, but it is the one with the loudest cheep that gets fed first. So it should be with your workload; the one screaming 'feed me' the loudest should get your attention before the others.
So what are the factors that single out the priority a job should be given? Well there are generally two main reasons that a job will be at, or near, the top of the list, and these are value and deadline.
Value could refer to the profitability of a job, i.e., how much hard cash it will bring in. Obviously this is always an important factor because without profits there would be no business. But it also refers to the value there is placed on a job because of the relationship with the client. Regular custom is the solid foundation on which many businesses stand and so valued clients should be treat with respect. To be dazzled by cash and go rushing ahead with a £1000 one-off job at the cost of delaying a regular £500-a-month one is not really demonstrating good prioritisation skills. The one-off client may be delighted with his product and off he goes, never to be seen again, while the regular client is left somewhat disgruntled at receiving his order late and off he goes too - taking his £500-a-month order with him. So prioritising your workload is not entirely dependent on a single factor like profitability (if only life were so simple); there are other aspects that need to be taken into consideration before deciding on the order of priority. It is not always the client with the most cash that yells 'feed me' the loudest.
Deadlines are a different, and often more stressful matter (I know this as a writer of articles). It sometimes happens with jobs that have deadlines to be met that they can be pushed down the list of priorities because there is often no sense of urgency about them at first. After all, a deadline that is three weeks away is certainly nothing to panic about. However, it could then be that other projects bog you down and the deadline comes lurching over the horizon without the work being done. This is where it becomes stressful and as a result the work can be rushed and not up to the usual standard. It is advisable, therefore, to carefully weigh up how much priority should be placed on a job with a deadline to be met. If you think it may be troublesome, or that there are other projects further down the line, then give it the priority it deserves and don't put it on the back burner just because the deadline is some way off.
Prioritising the workload is only one aspect of time management. It is a varied and interesting subject that, when learned and applied, enables the student to go about his tasks in a less stressful, more productive way, while his colleague is still making a blue tit of himself.
Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on online time management courses, please visit https://www.stl-training.co.uk
Original article appears here:
https://www.stl-training.co.uk/article-883-a-matter-priority.html
London's widest choice in
dates, venues, and prices
Public Schedule:
On-site / Closed company:
TestimonialsRoyal Foundation Of St Katherine's
Room Attendant Toni Yankova Introduction to Management Karen is very knowledgeable, we learned alot with her. Great course! Argenta Holdings
Technical Officer Denise Holland Excel Intermediate The best Excel training course I have ever attended (albeit vertually). Found it difficult to concentrate on solo exercises due to ongoing conversations for those needing help, which was initially frustrating, but we were not left too long to our own devices before we worked through them together, so this turned out to be a non issue. Much preferred learning whilst at home actully on a PC, rather than the old classroom/white screen method and Claire picked up very quickly on those incountering issues via their body language. An enjoyable course and very good (non paper) future reference materials also. Thank you Elsevier
Senior Marketing Communications Manager Melanie Thomson Excel VBA Introduction The trainer took on board my suggestions ahead of the course to tailor the level to better fit the mixed level of knowledge across our team and this worked really well. No-one 'got lost' along the way which is a great achievement in a team that is not using Excel as often (or at as advanced a level) as we should be. Everyone seemed engaged throughout the day despite this being such a technical subject and one that many marketers find quite scary! If Jens could email me his slides form the day that would be really helpful for us to refer back to. |
PUBLICATION GUIDELINES