This document provides 7 steps for determining priority tasks: 1) Ask your manager for priority levels, 2) Prioritize tasks your manager focuses on or asks about most, 3) Prioritize tasks that make or save money, 4) Prioritize tasks that keep existing customers happy, 5) Prioritize tasks blocking others' work, 6) Prioritize marketing tasks for new customers and money, and 7) Prioritize the most critical task if you could only do one. It includes a checklist to assess tasks against these priority factors and emphasizes putting high priority tasks at the top of your to-do list.

1. How to Prioritize Tasks
Garland Coulson, “Captain Time”

2. Task Overload!
• Where to start?

3. Define Priority Tasks
• More important than other tasks

4. How Do You Determine Priority?

5. Step 1: Ask Your
Manager
• Request that your
manager assign
priority levels when
giving you tasks

6. Step 2: Priority by Inference
• What if your manager is
unresponsive or says
“everything is a priority”?
• Listen to what they ask most
about or pay attention to what
they most focus on

7. Step 3: Focus on Money
• Tasks that make or save your firm
money tend to take priority over
general administrative type tasks

8. Step 4: Focus on Existing Customers
• Tasks that keep customers happy also tend to be high priority

9. Step 5: Is the Task Blocking Others?
• Look for tasks that
others are waiting on to
do their work and make
them higher priority

10. Step 6: Marketing Tasks
• Marketing tasks are your source for new customers and new money
so also very important

11. Step 7: Ask Yourself
• If you could only do one task today,
which is the most critical to get
done?

12. Priority Task Checklist
Manager says it is important
Management focuses on this area
Relates to Money
Relates to Customer satisfaction
Relates to Marketing
Keeps others from proceeding
If I could only do one task today, this would be it
Tick all boxes that apply. The more boxes ticked, the higher the priority

13. Priority Tasks Take Precedence!
• Make sure they are at the top of
your todo list or task
management system

14. • I offer Time Management coaching
and consulting and I work with both
individuals and groups
• Contact me for a FREE 20 minute
consultation on how I can help
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