The 1–3–5 Priority List Changes the way you accomplish Tasks

Do you have a crowded to-do list that gets you overwhelmed? Do you try to get everything accomplished, only to burn out at the end of the day?

One can never accomplish an endless number of things in a single day. The key to managing time well is by using a priority-based task list system. This pragmatic system involves consolidating all your tasks and organizing them based on their level of impact to ensure optimal utilization of your time.

This systematic approach of the priority list is habitually utilized by my team to plan their tasks for the day, week and month and has worked wonders by ensuring no task is omitted. The simple method has also served as a record of work done to refer to during our periodical review meetings.

I orient you towards practical steps to get your tasks organized on the 1–3–5 Priority-based Task List.

Urgent and important tasks need to go into your 1–3–5 priority list. This technique gets you into action mode: Write down the tasks, arrange them in order of significance and execute them one-by-one, crossing them out.

The highlights of this list are:

• The 1–3–5 buckets your tasks based on their level of their importance (1 — One major impactful task to be completed without fail, 3- Three important tasks that are necessary to be done, 5- Five other tasks that you would like to accomplish).
• The “big and most important” task demands your immediate attention and must be done without fail. That’s the point — the 1–3–5 rule forces you to get real about the energy and time you dedicate for the task.
• Addressing the most important task first for the day and then crossing it off upon completion gives you a sense of satisfaction. This then motivates you to accomplish the next task on the list.
• If other urgent tasks crop up, you need to evaluate its significance to reshuffle your list. For this you may also block 30 minutes of your time daily for any adhoc tasks.

I urge you to follow this effective 1–3–5 planner as it certainly helps you to better prioritize and fulfil your professional commitments.

In my next article I will elaborate on the waiting lists, calendarization and checklist technique for task management.