PRIORITIES

In the rush of the day to day and our eagerness to get things done, it is easy to lose sight of our own priorities, and when we don’t have clear priorities, this can make it even more difficult to manage our time as we give alllll of the things that aren't important to us our precious time.

Unfortunately, accomplishing our goals or achieving things that we personally want to achieve really does depend on what we choose to prioritise in our lives!

I know that we are all busy and have to-do lists as long as our arms, but yes, I really did say choose up there. When something is important to us, we choose to make sure that its done - quite often we prioritise things that others find important and choose to do this at the expense of our own wants.

Being clear on our priorities can help us to;

- decide what is worthy of our time,

- help us to make decisions,

- embolden us to say 'no' to others, and

- organise our time according to what is important to us.

EXERCISE

If you are unsure of your priorities try this exercise.

1. Firstly make two lists, one for all the things you MUST do and another for all of the things that you WANT to do. Include all of the things important to you or that take your time (home, personal growth, finances, family, health, hobbies and so on),

2. Now number each of the things on your lists so that the most important or urgent items are at the top and the less urgent tasks are at the bottom.

3. Now you know which items should be a priority.

4. The items on your 'want' list should also take priority, even if only for a small amount of time each day, week, or month.

It is important to note that our priorities can change, and it can be helpful to organise priorities for days, weeks and months to help you to organise your time.  

Getting our priorities in order can be stressful but it can also be overwhelming if we don’t.  Although it can be difficult enforcing our boundaries or saying 'no' to others demands on our time it can help us a lot if we understand that saying no gives us more time for our other priorities.

Please do take the time to make your lists and align your daily behaviour with your priorities - you'll thank us later!