Question: Don’t most of us routinely set priorities on our activities?
Answer: Yes, most people do set priorities, but they give high priority to the wrong things—to items that are quick and easy to get done.

Question: So what’s the right way to set priorities?
Answer: The key is to ask, “How does this activity fit in with my long term objectives and where I want to go with a particular project or with my career or my life?” Often we lose track of the overall direction we should take and we just ask, “What is something fast and easy that I can get done so I can cross it off my To-do List?" or "What is the most urgent, the next most urgent, and what can wait?” The items we think can wait are often the things that would have a significant payoff for us, perhaps not immediately, but in the future. Unfortunately those are the items that get put on the back burner. Important things are not always urgent and urgent things are nott always important.

Question: What is the most common mistake people make when they set priorities?
Answer: They delay long-range planning in place of solving immediate, but insignificant problems. People who do this find that their entire day is cluttered with a lot of small projects and small decisions. The things that sometimes don’t get done are major items, such as long-range planning and important backburner projects. Don't confuse activity with accomplishment. Many people concentrate on what I call “ant stomping” when they should concentrate on “elephant hunting.” When you focus on stomping ants you confuse activity with accomplishment. You’re going for the small insignificant tasks that are easy to do. They can be done quickly, so you give yourself the illusion that you’re really accomplishing a lot, when in actuality you’re getting further and further behind because you’re overlooking the elephant hunting.

Question: Can you be more specific about what you mean by elephant hunting?
Answer: Elephant hunting means to pursue significant projects that have long-term payoffs for you. If you’re busy stomping ants all day long, you might not even be aware that you’re totally ignoring some of your elephants.

Question: What kind of activities do you define as “stomping on ants”?
Answer: Constantly being busy dealing with minor interruptions, for example, or spending time reading lots of relatively unimportant emails. If these kinds of activities distract you and keep you from working on higher payoff activities, you’re “stomping ants.”

Question: But there are urgent matters that have to be attended to. Doesn’t devoting time to taking the long-range view distract from such day-to-day demands?
Answer: Solving problems is “fire fighting.” You’d be better off in the long run figuring out how to prevent fires in the first place instead of constantly reacting to problems. Preventing fires puts us ahead of the game—and saves us time. If people tell me, “I don’t have time to plan properly,” I tell them that, if you don’t have time to plan, that’s all the more reason you should make the time because planning actually creates more time for you in the long run. If you don’t take time to get organized, plan, and develop good time-management habits, you’ll always be playing the catch up game. Lack of planning is a big waste of time. Many people have “train wrecks” that happen in slow motion. The wreck is easily predictable—and preventable—if you take time to look way down the track.

Question: What if it’s hard to plan your day because lots of unexpected things always come up?
Answer: If that’s the case, then expect the unexpected. Set some time aside during the day to deal with the unexpected.

Question: What techniques do you recommend for carrying out your advice?
Answer: Everyone should have a To-do List and set priorities on each item based on the significance of completing each item. Many people prioritize items based on what’s most urgent and what’s next most urgent. Instead, I suggest that you answer, “What are the most significant items on my To-do List in terms of my overall long-term objectives?” I personally put a number “1” next to my high-payoff items, a number “2” next to medium-payoff items, and a number “3” next to low-payoff items. Then I go back over the list and put high priorities on my most high-payoff items. Low payoff items should be put off, delegated, or ignored. Then devote the time you save to working on the big important stuff—the elephants on your list.

Question: What tips do you have on how to develop the discipline to do this?
Answer: Break high-payoff projects into sub-tasks and devote some time each day to work on at least one of those sub-tasks. Or break it down into simple pieces so others can help you with parts of it. Each day put an elephant, or a piece of an elephant, on your To-do List and then do it. That way you make progress on something significant every day.

Question: Are there other common mistakes we make when setting priorities?
Answer: Many people think in terms of being efficient. One of the things I emphasize in my time-management seminars is to focus on being effective rather than simply being more efficient. Being efficient is getting something done fast, while being effective is getting the right thing done. It's better to do the right thing slowly than the wrong thing quickly. Imagine you’re walking down the street, for example, and you had a hundred $1.00 bills and two $100 bills in your hands and a whirlwind came along and blew them out of your grasp. What would be your strategy to get the money back? If it’d be to pick up the bills closest to you and work your way toward the rest, you’d save steps—you’d be efficient. But if your strategy would be to try to get the hundreds first, you’d be effective.

Question: How do people who use your priority-setting advice find that it works for them?
Answer: Most people who follow my advice save an hour or more a day. By working smarter, not harder, they feel a greater sense of progress, accomplishment, and fulfillment—and less stress—because they achieve their important goals and priorities.

ã Copyright by Peter Turla, www.Timeman.com

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