The best experiences I gained in prioritizing that helps me be a sought-out virtual assistant happened when I was an administrative assistant to 10 sales associates across two departments plus handled the marketing for this company. Being organized, being dependable were musts because in sales being able to respond in a timely manner with your quote could seal…or sink a deal. In sales, each associate felt their work was priority. But only one task at a time can be first. Who got the positioning?
What Gets Your Eyes First
Working from a to-do list helps to see everything at a glance. It’s difficult to prioritize if you don’t have a clear overview of all the projects, across all of your clients. Some make a list on paper or reach for their calendar while others like a formal project management system such as Basecamp. Any of these methods will work.
Three categories to consider for each task include:
Importance – Which task has the greatest value? Which task will produce the greatest results once completed? This is a factor for prioritizing multiple tasks for a single client. Those leading to the greatest monetary yield get preference.
Urgency – Where does this fall in the overall project timeline? Which deadline is nearest? This is a factor when prioritizing across many clients’ projects. Deadlines are often the tie breaker.
Effort – How much effort or skill is needed to complete the task? How much time is needed to complete the task? This is the factor in managing your time. Intimately knowing how long something will take, even if you must do a time test to estimate total project completion will help.
Choose your favorite ranking method (1-2-3, high-medium-low, colors, or hot-warm-cold) to mark each item on the to-do for each category. Reorganize the list as needed and work through your newly prioritized list. Be sure to review that enough time is allowed for today or note which tasks will need to be carried over to the next day.
And most importantly, take pleasure in crossing an item off your list. As silly as it may seem at the end of the day looking back to all you’ve accomplished feels so good. Bask in it and then get to work in prepping your to-do list for the next business day before you shut down the office for the day.
If you need some help prioritizing feel free to click reply and tell me about it.
These are great guidelines! It’s often tempting to get the quick and easy tasks out of the way so we can cross them off the list, but sometimes by the time they’re done, there’s not enough time or energy left for the big ones.