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Vox Pop: What we talk about when we talk about "priority"
Merlin Mann | Feb 12 2007
Since the Bronze Age of personal productivity, conventional wisdom has taught us the importance of priority in deciding how to plan and use our time. And, in the abstract, anyhow, that notion of putting your time and attention into those things that are the most valuable to you seems so "obvious" as to be a tautology, where "productivity = acting on priorities." (Of course, whether people's execution of the things they claim are important always maps to their stated intentions is another matter for But, we can probably agree that in the post-Lakein world of productivity and time management, everything from Covey's Quadrants to the Pareto Principle to the four criteria to -- what? I dunno -- firewalking, has been used to help us train our attention on the things that need us most and provide the greatest value in our world. Priority. But, in practice, what the hell does "priority" really mean? I come at this from the angle of a GTD fan, in the sense that I try (try, mind you) to see priority as one of several factors that govern where my time can and should go. But, it's no secret that even the most diehard GTD fan struggles with how to execute a busy day during which this and this and this and, oh crap, **that** all need to be done as soon as possible. How do you manage it all? Well, one way is to apply some of the many affordances that various productivity tools offer: priority stuff is big, and it's red, and it's bold, it's at the very top of the list, and it's stuck on a sticky note in the middle of the monitor; anything to make sure we don't lose our most important work in the lights. So my question to you guys: what does "priority" really mean to you in practice (not theory)? Does it represent the highest value item in your world -- that for which you will reject other work? Is it the thing that's currently causing the most stress and anxiety? Or is it the thing that you're the most behind on and are therefore the most horribly embarrassed about? What makes you set an item's priority to the "high" setting, and then how does that help it to get done faster? Does priority planning ever fail you? I've got my own theories, but I want to hear what you guys think in comments. (And, of course, my apologies to the late Raymond Carver.) 40 Comments
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 For me, there are two...Submitted by gabe (not verified) on February 12, 2007 - 9:11am.
For me, there are two types of priority. 1. Project Priority. 2. NA Priority. The way this works is that all of my Projects (someday and current) get two metas... Aspect and Priority. An Aspect is related to the roles I play in life (student, husband, father, employee, etc..). The Priority is within the particular aspect. In my role as a father I may need to "Fix daughter's bike" and "Build Playroom for daughter." Fixing her bike may be prioritized higher than building her playroom since it is what she has been asking for and she is not aware of the possibility that she could be getting a playroom of her own. This allows me to make sure that I have current projects that are fair to all of my aspects of life (if I have 5 aspects and 5 current projects, then I should have one project per aspect) and that my projects are having as immediate gratification as possible. This is all to try and keep certian aspects from always over-riding others. The Aspect is assignent to a project as soon as it enters either the current or somday list. This way, if school and work have been throwing things at me faster than I can catch... I can quickly look at my lists and make sure to at least crank out a few smaller projects for other Aspects so that those are not feeling completely ignored. I may not get the "Kitchen remodel" done right now, but I will at least get the "Make wife's favorite dinner" done so that she knows I am still thinking about her while pulling my hair out on a paper for school. As far as NA priorities, this is more obvious. If A has to happen before B, then A has a higher priority than B. Example: A is a school project due on wednesday, and B is Hanging a shelf for the Wife. Both I wish to get done today since I want to keep both School and Wife happy, but A will get a higher priority and get attacked first since the shelf could wait another day if nessisary. I obviously try to keep the OH Sh!t aspect of priority out of the picture, but this system allows for some of that when nessisary. » POSTED IN:
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