Developing the Leader Within You 2.0- Priorities

Time is precious and in order to accomplish all you need to do, you need to prioritize.

Chapter 2 is all about priorities!

Think about this, "When you say everything is a high priority, then nothing is a high priority."

So what is a Priority?

Become proactive by recognizing these Priorities Principles:

1. Working smarter has a higher return than working harder:
• Find better ways to work ad make the most of moments you have. 
• Dan Kennedy says, "Disciplined use of time everybody else wastes can give you the edge."
2. You can't have it all
• If you want to be successful as a person and s a leader, you must make choices! You must prioritize! You cannot have it all. No one can.
3. The good is always the enemy of the best
• When faced with two good choices, what should you choose? Remember that the good must sometimes be sacrificed for the best.
4. Proactive beats Reactive
• Every person is either an initiator or a reactor when it comes to planning
• You can choose or you can lose
• Proactive means choosing; reactive means losing
• The question isn't, "Will I have things to do?" but "Will I do things that make a difference?" See picture below comparing Initiators and reactors...
• Initiators are those who prepare, plan ahead, pick up the phone and make contact, anticipate problems, seize the moment, put their priorities in their calendars, invest time in people.
• You need to change your mindset- instead of focusing on efficiency, we need to think about effectiveness, which is a success mindset. Instead of focusing on doing things right, we need to focus on doing only the right things.
5. The important needs to take precedence over the urgent
• The ability to juggle multiple high-priority projects successfully is something every successful leader must learn how to do. As the list of tasks grows, you can agonize or organize.
• You should classify your tasks so you can quickly prioritize them in any given moment:
• See picture below of the classification of tasks - bottom line is that you want to tackle the High Importance/High Urgency tasks first. The Low Importance/Low Urgency tasks should be eliminated, delegated, or if you must do them, schedule a 1-hour block each week to chip away at them, but never schedule them during your prime time.

Everyday- review your to-do list and evaluate each task using the importance/urgency criteria. It's an effective way to help you prioritize, put things into order quickly, and plan your day.

SOLUTIONS:

1. The Pareto Principle- 20% of your priorities will give you 80% of your production, IF you spend your time, energy, money, and personnel on the top 20% of your priorities.
• See picture below for the model.
2. The Three Rs
• What is Required of me?
• What gives me the greatest Return?
• What is most Rewarding?
3. Make Room for Margin
• Margin is the space that exists between our load and our limits- Richard Swenson
• Fight to keep 20% of your calendar as white space
• See pictures of the Margin section

To develop the prioritizer within you, ask yourself these questions:

1. Where do I need to work smarter instead of harder?
2. What must I change to stop trying to have it all?
3. What good things can I stop doing in order to do the best?
4. What must I do to become more proactive instead of reactive?
5. What can I do to stop doing urgent but unimportant things?

See pictures below of the Pareto Principle Worksheet and the Three Rs Worksheet