Whether you’re the CEO of a huge corporation, an executive at an exciting new start-up, or the manager of a local car workshop—everyone sometimes feels the pile of tasks in front of them has grown taller than they can handle. At moments like that, prioritizing effectively is key to get the work done quickly and correctly. Today, we want to discuss some ways in which everyone, no matter their position, can figure out how to sieve out the important stuff and not just stay productive, but actually enjoy their work.

Starting to really prioritize the most important responsibilities only and finding ways to involve the whole team in mindful working doesn’t happen overnight. A common occurrence, especially for managers in charge of numerous projects at once, is firefighting—constant shifting from one task to another, especially when things seem to always go wrong without endless oversight. The problem with this is that instead of keeping an eye on everything, the person soon realises they no longer have an eye on anything. An effective way to eliminate this stressful habit is to use the Eisenhower Decision Matrix.

Named after the thirty-fourth US president, who was known for his prioritization skills, the matrix is a simple table that separates work into four categories: important and urgent, important but not urgent, unimportant but urgent, and unimportant and not urgent. Putting your tasks down into sections serves two purposes at once. Firstly, it allows you to visualize the real amount of work, as only having it on your mind can often swell it disproportionately. Secondly and most importantly, tasks can then all be taken on or eliminated successfully. Based on their category, they can be attended to immediately, kept in mind for the long term, delegated, or ignored. Such analysis of work prior to actually doing it allows us to work better, not more, and avoid falling into cycles of stress and unproductiveness.

Putting conscious effort into prioritizing can make it easier to overcome other common obstacles to productiveness, like distractions and unrealistic goals. All of these achievements together can bring about a much-needed shift in the success of a business. Finally, implementing a single project management system can be the ultimate component to bring together all of the prioritization achievements of individuals. CRM and ERP systems, like the Trumpauto software, can streamline processes and allow for more time for meaningful, valuable work.

We hope this short overview can be of use to everyone reading it. We invite you to think about these tips and try them out for real! Additionally, here are two great book recommendations from our team, about working better and understanding what matters: Measure What Matters by John Doerr and Deep Work by Cal Newport.
If you think our software could be the cherry on top of your individual prioritization achievements, let us know at info@trumpauto.eu or by signing up for a free trial today!