‘Everyday’ Intelligence: Learn How to Prioritise

You attempt to wake up at 07:00; not because you want to, mind you.

It is purely a routine that you have developed and perfected throughout your somewhat repetitive and often frustrating as Hell 9-5 life.

It is a culture that you have a been a slave to for quite some time now; a culture which has permeated your thoughts to an extreme extent comparable only to your utter disgust for waking up early.

You toss and turn; you feel weary- and not in a nice way.

Crawling out of the bed, you manage to get a hold of your diary and, opening it up with some considerable effort, stare at the page for some time.

It is blank and it has been for some time now.

You are, of course, fully aware that the reason for the void is not a lack of things to do but a constant, and rather persistent, rejection of reality.

You frown to yourself, drop the diary on the ground and decide to…

…procrastinate.

After all, why do something today when you can do it tomorrow?

Quite true.

It is of utmost importance, however, to understand that, prior to being able to adhere to the above, you must be able to list your tasks and prioritise them so that you know what ones can be left for tomorrow or even the day after.

It is quite easy, really; the list can even be produced WHILST you are procrastinating.

All you need is a pen and a paper; ready?

There’s an example:

• Set up standing order to pay rent for 29^th of every month                  1
• Do weekly shopping                                                                            4
• Have a haircut                                                                                     5
• Call Jessie re outing on Friday                                                           6
• Pay the council tax                                                                              2
• Work out                                                                                             7
• Improve general knowledge                                                                8
• Improve commercial awareness                                                        9
• Return books to library                                                                        3         

All you need to do now is put a little number next to each of them and prioritise their importance, as I have done above.

The page in your diary is no longer blank. You smile, get our of bed and start doing the tasks, one by one.

Accomplishing a task makes you feel quite invincible and ready to tackle any challenge, overcome any hurdle.

As you get into the habit of doing it, you soon realise that the more task lists you complete, the more new tasks you come up with.

Prioritising, then, is not only a way to cope with the hurdles and challenges that you are faced with but also a path to self- improvement and discipline.

I am fully aware that all of the above sounds quite clichéd and simple.

Yet, as I have previously said, simple as it may be, it is something that people tend to forget.

And remember:  

You can do ANYTHING but not EVERYTHING; start prioritising.