I recently grabbed coffee with a friend of mine who is in the midst of a big life transition – she is hitting the job-search trail full-force, and we were talking about interviews when she mentioned that she was asked a question by a mock interviewer that she wasn’t quite sure how to answer:

“How do you prioritize your work?”

And I realized that not only is this a tough interview question – it’s a tough ask! How DO we prioritize our tasks and our work on a day-to-day basis to make sure that we’re being productive, effective, and getting maximum fulfillment out of our work?

After talking through some strategies with my colleague, and both of us reflecting together on some prioritization tips we’ve used in the past, here are three strategies for prioritizing your work that I recommend trying – maybe even today!

Strategy 1: The Urgency/Importance Matrix

If you’re a stickler for logic, you’ll love this approach to prioritization and task management: the Urgency/Importance Matrix (it’s also sometimes referred to as the “Eisenhower Matrix” or “Eisenhower Decision Matrix”).

The premise of the Urgency/Importance Matrix is that all tasks exist on a spectrum of Urgency (something that needs to be done SOON or else there will be consequences) and Importance (something that is highly valuable, but maybe not time-bound).

You can employ this method by mapping out your own Urgency/Importance Matrix, like I have here:

Once you have your matrix plotted out (or you can do it in your head if you’re not as tactile), you can then group and classify tasks on your to-do list in accordance with where they fall on the spectrum.

Some tasks are URGENT, but NOT IMPORTANT – a great example of this is a last-minute email that you need to respond to quickly.

Some tasks are IMPORTANT, but NOT URGENT – a great example of this is any sort of planning that needs to be done. Planning is vital for success, but it’s pretty much always a task that can be shifted or de-prioritized.

Some tasks are NOT IMPORTANT and also NOT URGENT – your job with these tasks is to eliminate them completely. If a task doesn’t meet either of these standards, then it is not worth your time.

And then of course, there are tasks that are URGENT and IMPORTANT – this is where you should spend the majority of your time, or – if you’re looking at how to prioritize your day – these are the tasks you should START with.

The next time your struggling with how to orient your day’s work, give the Urgency/Importance Matrix a try. This method is especially great because it “challenges the role of habitual activities and allows you to regain control of your environment and external demands, rather than allow them to control you” (GroupMap.com).

Strategy 2: “Eat That Frog”

I learned this strategy in the time I spent working for personal development and time management guru, Brian Tracy, who is the author of a book by the same name: “Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.”

The premise of this prioritization strategy is this: you should tackle your biggest, most audacious, “froggiest” task before you do ANYTHING else on your list.

This can be hard for us to get ourselves to do, mentally. These tasks are called “frogs” for a reason – they may seem overwhelming to start, or even unpleasant. But the true hallmark of a “froggy” task is that – when you complete it, it will have a SIGNIFICANT impact on your output (very likely, it is an “IMPORTANT” task, by the rules of the “Urgency/Importance Matrix above).

And while these tasks can be tough to force ourselves to start – often when we begin working on them, we find they’re not so bad at all. And more so, when you DO finish your froggy tasks, you feel unstoppable! You know you have just completed something major… which then motivates you to keep going, gives you a jolt of energy and enthusiasm, and empowers you to complete MORE tasks.

Try “eating your frog” today (or tomorrow!) and see how it positively impacts your overall productivity.

Strategy 3: Employ “Lightning Rounds”

Oftentimes, one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to prioritizing our time and our tasks lists is being tempted to start on smaller tasks (since they are “easier”) instead of beginning with our “froggy” tasks and our “important” tasks. This is dangerous because these small tasks have a tendency to zap our energy, just the same as a bigger task would, but you waste your most productive hours them, so by the time you get to your MOST important tasks, you just aren’t feeling up to it.

A great tangential prioritization strategy to employ as you’re going through your day is to use “lighting rounds” to knock out some of these little tasks on a recurring basis.

For example, assuming you start your day with your froggiest task (go you!), at a certain point, you will need to take break from that task. Or, even though you may be working on your most important task, you may still feel overwhelmed by the length of your daily to-do list.

A great way to solve both of these problems is by using a “lightning round” – a 10-15 minute period where you spend your time knocking off as many “quick and easy” tasks as possible. When you’re done, you will have whittled away your to-do list, AND you will feel relieved at your progress. Plus, since the lightning round is time-bound to just 10 or 15 minutes, you don’t run the risk of getting side-tracked by less important tasks, and when the round is over, you can easily jump back to your more important task.

These are three great strategies for proactively planning your day’s work, and prioritizing your most important tasks. Give them a try and let me know which one YOU like best (or share your own personal prioritization strategies in the comments!)