In this episode, learn five simple yet powerful strategies for tackling your to-do list so you don't have to wonder what to do next. Discover how to prioritize your tasks effectively, gain more time, and achieve your big goals without the overwhelm.
SHOW NOTES FOR THIS EPISODE: https://www.realhappymom.com/237
PURPOSE DRIVE MOM SUMMIT: https://www.realhappymom.com/apdm2024-p
NEXT STEPS
Grab Your Freebies: https://www.realhappymom.com
Check Out the Course: https://courses.realhappymom.com
In this episode, learn five simple yet powerful strategies for tackling your to-do list so you don't have to wonder what to do next. Discover how to prioritize your tasks effectively, gain more time, and achieve your big goals without the overwhelm.
SHOW NOTES FOR THIS EPISODE: https://www.realhappymom.com/237
PURPOSE DRIVE MOM SUMMIT: https://www.realhappymom.com/apdm2024-p
NEXT STEPS
Grab Your Freebies: https://www.realhappymom.com
Check Out the Course: https://courses.realhappymom.com
Have you ever wondered what to do next when you are trying to get that to do list knocked out? Maybe you feel like, okay, maybe I should start on this item over here, or maybe this task over there, and you just don't know what is the next best thing to do. Well, today I'm going to be answering that question so that you can be able to prioritize and also know what to do next. So, hey there! I am Toni Anne. I am the podcast host of the Real Happy Mom podcast, the podcast for busy working moms who need help with gaining more time and achieving their big goals without pulling their hair out. And in this episode today, we're talking all about how to prioritize what to do next. Now, before we jump in, I just have to tell you, I really struggled with this quite a bit. And I remember one day having pretty much um And the whole day to myself. So I was kid free, husband free, and I had a list of things that I wanted to do. And I was so excited to jump on in and just start knocking things out around the house and just for myself. And I got started and I was like, okay. What do I do next? I really couldn't figure out. Okay. What's the next best thing that I need to do and Next thing, you know, I got distracted with my Instagram account at the time now I'm not getting distracted as much but at the time Instagram really was a distraction for me I picked up my phone, started scrolling. Next thing you know, it was 45 minutes later and I hadn't done anything. So I know what it feels like to have a list of things to do, but not really know what is the next thing to do. So I am going to be sharing with you a couple of different ways you can prioritize your task and just a simple framework to help you with making sure that you are knocking things out and you don't get paralyzed or feel like You have no idea what to do next. So when I was looking for different ways to help myself with prioritizing, I found several different ways to prioritize tasks. And I will tell you for me, the simplest way, That I have been able to prioritize my tasks without getting overwhelmed and getting distracted is to simply do a brain dump first. That is like my first go to thing. Do a brain dump of everything that I need to get done, especially those days when I'm feeling overwhelmed and I'm like, Oh my goodness, I got so much to do. Oh, what do I do? What do I do? Dump everything out on paper, spend about five minutes, just write out everything. Everything from the kids, to work, to real happy mom, um, even personal things and things that I want to do around the house. I just write everything on that piece of paper. From there, I just start looking and seeing, okay, like, what do I actually need to get done, like, right now, and what are some of the things I can get done? later. And that's how I'm able to start to see, okay, these are the things that I need to focus on first so that, um, I can get the ball rolling or actually move the needle in whatever it is that I'm trying to accomplish. So I have found that most helpful, but I know for some people, even that is not enough. So, um, I am going to break down four different ways to prioritize your task. So the first way that I learned about prioritizing is by emotions. There is this article that I will link in the show notes by Robin Scott. And it was a really interesting article. She talked about being super productive and just finding different ways to increase her productivity. And in this article, she breaks down the categories on how she feels. feels so that she can group tasks based on those feelings. So to break things down even more for you so you can get a better idea, she has different feelings like feeling triumphant, feeling supremely satisfied, feeling massive relief, feeling highly helpful or even just basic decency, which I thought that one was hilarious. So she breaks things down into these different categories based off of her emotions and in the article she says that She breaks things down by emotion to find out the why behind the task and her emotions Tell her why she needs to get a task done. Maybe it is because she wants to feel helpful. Maybe it is because she just has to get these things done in order to be a decent human being. So her emotions dictate her, why she needs to do things before she begins the, what she needs to do. And. And I found this a really interesting way to prioritize tasks. So if you are really just trying to get some motivation, just trying to really boost your emotions and how you're feeling, this is a really fun way to prioritize tasks is based off of emotions. Now, the next way that you can prioritize tasks are based on time. Now I find that I do this quite often because There are certain things that have to take place today. There are certain deadlines that need to be met. Certain things need to happen in order for you to move on to the next task. So those time based tasks are Things that you want to move up in the priority list so that you can get those things done So that is another way you can look at your task and actually see okay What task must be completed within 24 hours 48 hours? Whatever the time limit is and that's how you can start to see. Okay. This is the next item to complete that I need to tackle next. So the next way that you can prioritize your tasks are based on urgency. So I'm sure if you've heard about prioritization, you've heard people talk about the Eisenhower matrix. If you're not familiar with Eisenhower matrix, it's simply just taking a square and mark it into four different corners. And in the different squares you have important, but not urgent, important and urgent. These are your top priorities, urgent, but not important. Which are things you can delegate and then not urgent, not important. These are what they consider distractions. The Eisenhower Matrix is a great place to start if you have like absolutely no idea what to do. Um, as far as getting things done based on urgency, like break things down and put them into these different categories, and from there you'll be able to see, okay, this is what I need to get started on next. Another fun way to really break down your task is using the Moscow method and I like this one is similar to the Eisenhower matrix, but a little twist on it So you have your must do items Your should do items Your could do items and then your won't do items. I like this one a little bit more Um, just because I like the must should could and won't do and Again, another great way to break things down based off of urgency like what needs to happen Right right now and this can lead you to figure out what you need to do Next, another type of way to prioritize your task is based on effort. This is something that I talked to, um, a previous guest about, and I will definitely make sure to link this episode in the show notes. And that was the episode with Risa Williams. She talked about, uh, prioritizing things and also just like looking at the task meter. And I love, love, love that because sometimes there's certain tasks that really can like Um, stress you out and you want to be cognizant of what are the things that are going to stress you out so that you can kind of minimize the stress or kind of even things out so you're not doing a lot of highly stressful things back to back to back. So going back to prioritizing by effort, you can start to look to see what is going to take the most time or effort and then start with that task. Um, a lot of times we avoid the things that aren't going to be too stressful. The most exciting and will take up a lot of time and effort, but, um, going back to, um, the whole concept of eat the frog, just go ahead and knock out that thing that is going to take up the most time and effort for you. And that will give you the motivation to go ahead and start knocking out other tasks. But if you need a quick win with a task, definitely start with a task that is going to take the shortest amount of time. Now this isn't going to move the needle as much, but it will at least give you the motivation and the quick win to get you going so that you can do even more throughout the day. Now the last way that I want to share with you that I have found has been helpful with prioritizing tasks is based off of the ripple effect. And basically what I mean by this is just what are the tasks that are going to affect others? What are the tasks that you need to get done in order to move on to the next step and whatever it is that you're trying to take care of? So for instance, for me, I know that. I have to get my podcast episodes done so that I can get them off to my podcast manager who helps me with getting things scheduled. If I don't get the podcast episodes recorded, then she can't do her job. So what are the tasks that you need to get done that are affecting others or you need to get done in order for someone else to get their job done? Those are the things that you want to prioritize next. So those are the different ways that you can start to prioritize and start to see what you actually need to get done next. So just to recap here, I talked about prioritizing based on emotion, based on time, urgency, effort, and then of course the ripple effect. And then also just remember, it is always a good thing to keep in mind that there's some tasks that do need to be eliminated from your list and it is okay that you eliminate things because you're not going to be able to get everything done at one time, but just know that some things can wait or it can just be removed off your list for a certain period of time. Okay. So that's all I have for this episode. I hope that this one has been helpful for you. I know that there is even more information like this that will be shared in the Purpose Driven Moms Summit, which is starting next week. If you're listening to this episode live, if you are not familiar with the Purpose Driven Moms Summit, this is something Summit hosted by Kara Harvey, and she has 20 amazing speakers who are going to be talking about different ways to help you set up your day so you're not stressed out all the time, help you come up with a step by step process so that you can stay on top of what's important, and then also the systems and routines for your life so that you can have the freedom to focus on what matters most. This is one of my absolute favorites. absolute favorite summit. I have been a part of the Purpose Driven Moms Summit for the past six years. This is the seventh annual Purpose Driven Moms Summit, and I would love for you to join me at this summit. So definitely use the link in the description to go ahead and get registered for this free event that is happening April 15th through the 19th, and I will see you there. Now that's it for this episode. To find the links in show notes mentioned in this episode, head on over to real happy mom.com/two and 37. That's real. Happy mom.com/ 2 3 7. Make sure to stay tuned for next week for another full episode where I will be sharing with you how to better handle the after school routine so that you won't be as stressed and the kids won't drive you crazy. That's it for this one. Take care and with lots of love.