How to Prioritise Your Tasks When Everything Feels Urgent
- Adilla
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
It’s mid-week of the month, and you have at least 10 other things to work on. At the corner of your mind, you can almost hear all of your tasks scream, “Do it now!”
Or if you’re a multi-talented creative like me, with articles to write, posts to draft, a gaming stream to do and video shoots to record. You get me right?
When everything feels important and urgent, and even the Eisenhower Matrix isn’t enough to sort through your task lists – what else can you do? And what did I usually do to get my tasks sorted?
Task prioritisation for creative teams looks a little different. Sometimes, the technicalities of certain productivity methods can be too rigid.
Table of Contents
Why Does Everything Feel Urgent?
When everything feels urgent and overwhelming, you could be stressed out and bordering on burnout if you’re not careful. While other factors could affect the feeling of urgency, being aware of it is a good start!
However, dealing with it might take a bit of practice for the feeling of urgency to go away.
Step-by-Step to Do Task Prioritisation
Step 1: List Them All or Brain Dump
The first thing you need to do when managing urgent tasks is to list everything down, or in my case, to brain-dump every task in one space. It doesn’t have to be digital, but feel free to write it down with a pen and paper.
Step 2: MoSCoW method
Try out the MoSCoW method. The odd capitalisation of the letters is what makes up this method, which is Must-have, Should-have, Could-have and Won’t-have. Similar to the Eisenhower Matrix, it is divided into four.
Here’s a quick breakdown to implement it:
Must-have: mandatory tasks, and the project won’t be able to work without them. In my case, this article that you are reading is my must-have task.
Should-have: essential to the project, but not vital, as the project can still run without it. In my case, it would be the postings and videos that we publish for the upcoming week. It is essential, but it can be sorted out once I’m done with my main tasks.
Could-have: nice-to-have tasks and not necessary to the core function of a project. To compare it with my task list would be the game recordings we are planning for our social media! While not as vital as Must-haves or as essential as Should-haves, it would be nice to add them to our social media account.
Won’t have: you can consider this as the backlog of tasks that were pushed to prioritise other tasks. Or even put in scope creeps that are added to prevent the overall timeline of a project from being disrupted.
Step 3: Identify Blockers and Dependencies
This may not be common to be brought up for sorting tasks.
However, noting down which tasks would require extra steps before proceeding is crucial to know if they will reach the deadline.
For example, as a writer, I would have layers of proofreading and finalisation before publishing an article. The proofreading layer is my blocker and dependency. I cannot proceed with finalisation without my proofreader’s green light, as I am dependent on their insight.
So, this will give you a better insight into how to better prioritise your tasks according to the timing of your blockers and dependencies.
Step 4: Schedule With Buffers
A recent method in managing uncertainties in a project: buffer time. What it does is it adds time between tasks or projects to prevent a domino effect of delayed work.
So, when your tasks might require extra time unexpectedly, the buffer time will help you.
Step 5: Transparent Communication
Some things are just unpredictable, even with well-planned schedules. Time, energy and life are things beyond our control, so if all else fails, let your team know of your predicament and be transparent about your struggle.
As you inform them, let them know when you can submit your tasks or fulfil your work. By doing this, it will build trust and expectations.
3 Techniques To Stay Focused
Eliminate Distractions
With so much access to devices and social media, distractions are bound to happen. Set a timer on your apps and switch off notifications so you can focus better on your tasks.
Utilise Tools
Software like project management, time management, and productivity can help you concentrate better. Project management tools like TESSR can also give you an overview and the expectations of when you should fulfil your tasks.
Time management tools delegate your time more efficiently. Then, productivity tools assist in ensuring an efficient way of performing tasks.
Avoid Multitasking
When there are so many tasks on your list, it may be tempting to just do them at the same time. Unfortunately, not only will this be ineffective, but in the long run, burnout will happen faster.
Key Takeaways
Categorising your tasks in different sections of priority and deadlines can help overcome the overwhelming feeling you get when everything feels urgent and important.
Utilise different techniques to ensure you stick to your plans and perform your work efficiently.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What if my client always marks everything as urgent?
When your client always marks everything as urgent, it’s essential to talk with them about the details of what they define as urgent. What they see as urgent may not be what we see.
Additionally, letting them know a realistic workflow of what your team can achieve professionally can help manage expectations.
Would task management help in prioritising my tasks?
Yes, task management would help in prioritising your tasks. In a way, prioritising your tasks is a trait in task management to better organise your responsibilities.
Author Bio
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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