How to prioritize tasks in 4 steps (and get work done)

If you’re like most people, you usually start your workday with the intention of being as productive as possible. Yet, as the day rolls on, you find yourself fielding multiple urgent requests and watching your task list grow. What you initially set out to accomplish seems to get pushed to the side.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Without a process for prioritizing tasks at work, it always feels like we’re playing catch-up. However, there are four steps you can take to increase your productivity, meet your deadlines, and better manage your time:

• Create a task list  

• Choose a prioritization method to organize your tasks 

• Schedule your tasks in a calendar 

• Communicate your progress to your teammates

Take a look at our tips below and use these steps to help you prioritize your daily tasks at work.

1. Create a task list

You can’t decide how to prioritize tasks if you don’t have a single view of everything you need to get done in the first place. This may seem rudimentary, but it’s something that’s often skipped in the rush to dive into projects. Instead, take the time to list out what you need to work on across all of your projects. Be sure to break down bigger tasks into subtasks to feel less overwhelmed.

Once your tasks are aggregated and listed, add additional information, such as:

• The amount of time each will take to complete 

• Level of importance or urgency

• Due date 

With all of your tasks in one place, you’ll be able to see an overall view of what needs to be done, get a sense of how much work you’re dealing with for time management purposes, and what most likely needs your attention now.

Don’t worry about organizing your tasks quite yet; just get them all in the same spot to start. Creating a master list of tasks is a crucial first step, because if you can organize yourself at the beginning of a project or quarter, it is much easier to stay organized for a longer period of time.

Asana tip: My Tasks is a feature of Asana that automatically aggregates all the tasks assigned to you in a single view. It serves as the master checklist that keeps you focused on the right pieces of work and allows you to organize and prioritize tasks based on due date.

2. Adopt a task prioritization method

How you ultimately prioritize your tasks will depend on the nature of your job and your personal work style, but there are common task prioritization methods that might work for you. Let’s take a look at a few effective methods for prioritizing tasks.

Eat the frog

The eat the frog method is not a literal suggestion, but rather a system based on a quote from the ever-wise Mark Twain. He said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.” In the world of project management, that translates to tackling big or complex tasks first before moving on to less important or time-sensitive tasks.

Important tasks that serve the highest purpose and are tied to top-level objectives or OKRs should be first on the priority list when you start your day. Once you’ve eaten your frog for the day, you can slot in other tasks based on factors such as deadlines and feel less stress, since your most important work is already done.

Eat the frog example: Finish up that big presentation you’ll be making to the management team at the end of the week before you reply to emails, work on your review form, call clients, or iron out contract revisions. By diving into a big project before doing anything else, you won’t lose focus or get distracted by random tasks or questions, and you’ll be able to knock a big piece of work out more easily.

Eisenhower Matrix

Another prioritization technique, the Eisenhower Decision Matrix or Urgent-Important Matrix, starts by organizing tasks into four quadrants, based on whether they are:

• Important

• Urgent

• Important and urgent

• Neither

As a five-star general during World War II and then President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower was adept at making important decisions quickly, and came up with this method to help him.

This approach helps you decide:

• What to do now (important and urgent)

• What you need to plan for (important but not urgent)

• What you may be able to delegate (not important but urgent)

• What you can possibly delete (not important and not urgent) 

It is a great tool for prioritizing tasks, making decisions quickly, and staying organized.

Eisenhower Matrix example: A colleague has just sent you an email asking for help with a sales presentation. This request is urgent because it has to be done today, but is it important enough (to you) to postpone other work? 

Measure each of the tasks on your own daily list for importance and urgency to decide whether you can shift tasks to help your colleague, or if it needs to be deferred to later. Knowing your commitments also helps you say “no” when you need to.

ABCDE method

The ABCDE method is comparable to giving grades to your tasks, from A (very important) down to E (eliminate whenever possible). 

To use the ABCDE method: 

• Take that task list you’ve created

• Assign each task a letter value according to its level of importance, with A tasks being top priority and E tasks being low priority  

• Tackle tasks accordingly 

This method offers a way to quickly weigh task importance to help you identify your highest-priority tasks. Make sure you’re always working on your A and B tasks first, because those are the ones that will make or break your success at work.

The ABCDE method also works well when combined with eat the frog. If you start your day off with your A and B tasks, then you can spend the rest of your day on tasks of lower importance, like C, D, and E.

ABCDE example: You have eight working hours available today, but fifteen hours’ worth of tasks on your list. When you give each task a letter, only two qualify as A tasks, and most are D tasks that you can delegate or reschedule. Now you know to focus only on those A tasks, and leave the D tasks until later or pass off to another team member. You’ve just gone from being overwhelmed to having a prioritized task list that focuses on the must-do items of the day.

Most Important Task Method

The Most Important Task (MIT) method is an effective and simple strategy for prioritizing daily tasks that have a significant impact on the whole business. Each day, MIT selects between one and three key tasks that need to be completed by the end of the day. These tasks are not just any to-do list items but are specifically chosen for their significance in advancing towards your long-term goals.

Incorporating at least one MIT that is relevant to your mission ensures that you take practical steps toward reaching it on a daily basis. Although you're likely to complete more than these selected tasks, focusing on your MITs from the start of the day and setting a deadline for them ensures that you set aside time each day to tackle tight deadlines and urgent tasks.

Most Important Task example: Consider an architectural firm where the day's MIT is to finalize blueprint modifications for a client’s project. Amid numerous important tasks, this particular MIT is chosen because it directly influences the project's timeline and client satisfaction. By setting this as the priority, the team ensures that, despite the whirlwind of daily activities and potential for procrastination, the most important task of refining the blueprints is completed by the end of the day.

Chunking

For the chunking method, a chunk is defined as a focused work activity. It can be self-contained (emptying your inbox), a slice of a larger project (completing the first draft of a document), or a collection of small, unrelated tasks. Your key here is to make these chunks focused, uninterrupted blocks of time.

Turn off outside distractions and signal to others that you are unavailable by:

• Taking advantage of features on collaboration tools like Do Not Disturb 

• Using time blocking to reserve spots on your calendar for deep focus

• Implementing a No-Meeting Wednesday policy for yourself and your team if you’re able to

Don’t forget to take breaks in between chunks to relax and refresh.

Chunking in action: You might start your day with one hour of design work followed by a coffee break. Then, two hours of scheduled meetings, lunch, and 30 minutes of email response time. Next, you move on to one hour of research for a new project.  

You note all of your activities in your calendar to hold yourself accountable and ensure no one schedules over your plan. You end your day by taking a short social media break, heading to the team update meeting, and then finishing with a final hour of design work.

Asana tip: If you’re using Asana to manage your tasks, you can create custom fields to add additional information, such as a letter grade (if you’re using the ABCDE method), urgency and importance (if you’re using the Eisenhower Decision Matrix), priority level (if you’re going to eat the frog), or estimates on how long it will take to complete.

Agile prioritization

Agile prioritization, also known as Scrum prioritization, is a flexible task management method that allows teams to respond swiftly to changing demands by categorizing tasks according to their value, urgency, and project goals. It's particularly effective in managing dependencies—tasks that are interconnected and may need to be completed in sequence.

Agile prioritization evaluates each item on your to-do list based on three criteria:

• How critical is this task?

• What is its relative importance to the other tasks on this list?

• Is any other task dependent on this one?

Then, using the answers to those questions, you assign each task a number from one to n (where n represents the total number of tasks on your list).

Agile prioritization example: A software team designing an app decides that the user authentication system is critical because it impacts various other systems, such as profile customization and encrypted transactions. Prioritizing this system enables them to develop these interdependent features simultaneously. This strategic focus not only accelerates development but also ensures seamless integration of product-critical features.

3. Use project management software to schedule your tasks

When you're overburdened with tasks, project management software can streamline your day and categorize your to-do list. It allows you to keep track of your most urgent tasks and arrange your workflow so you can get things done without feeling swamped. This type of software allows you to categorize what needs to be done, mark key objectives or milestones, and delegate tasks to others as needed. It's all about making your workload easier to handle.

Project management software with calendar tool integration is particularly helpful. It provides a quick overview of all your projects and tasks, which is good for figuring out when you have a lot to do and when you might have some free time to tackle weekly tasks or anything else that pops up. Tools like Asana can show you this in a clear way, which helps with multitasking and making sure high-value tasks don't get missed.

Using a project management tool enables you to:

• Balance high-value and high-priority tasks

• Make sure you meet deadlines

• Prevent scheduling conflicts

• Manage your workload

• Preserve work-life balance

If you’re adopting one of the prioritization methods above—or a combination of your favorites—use that framework to help fill your schedule and manage time.

Asana tip: Using the Calendar View in Asana, you’ll be able to spot days when you might be overloaded and also see open blocks of time. Take advantage of this view to shift tasks and spread your work out more evenly. When you proactively manage your calendar, you make certain important tasks receive immediate attention.

4. Communicate task progress with your teammates

Finally, don’t forget to loop in teammates who may be waiting on you to complete a task or vying for some of your time. 

Cut down on the amount of requests you receive by proactively giving teammates status updates on:  

• Task progress

• When you plan to complete a project 

• Any delays or blockers that come up

Instead of constantly responding to requests, you can keep doing your work productively and efficiently.

Asana tip: Asana’s task comments feature lets you share updates and ask follow-up questions directly on a task to keep communication connected with the actual work you’re doing. Or, you can use status updates within a project to notify every stakeholder of your progress on a specific project, not just a task.

Prioritized work is productive work

When you clearly prioritize your work, you can increase productivity, better manage your time, and feel confident that you’ll hit your deadlines—every time.

FAQ: How to prioritize tasks

How do you prioritize work efficiently?

Prioritizing work efficiently involves evaluating tasks based on their urgency and importance. Begin by listing all your tasks, then assess each one for deadlines and their impact on your goals. Use tools like the Eisenhower Matrix to categorize tasks into four quadrants: urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important. First, focus on getting things done that are both important and urgent. Then, move on to things that are important but not urgent. Regularly review and adjust your priorities to reflect changes in deadlines or project directions.

How do I create a priority list?

To create a priority list, start by writing down all the tasks you need to complete. Next, assess each task for its urgency (how soon it needs to be done) and its importance (the impact of its completion on your goals or projects). Rank tasks based on these criteria, with tasks that are both urgent and important at the top of your list. Consider using prioritization techniques like the Eisenhower Matrix or ABCDE method to help structure your list. Finally, use time blocking to reserve space on your calendar to complete tasks in order of their priority.

How do I prioritize tasks?

To prioritize tasks effectively, begin by listing all your tasks, then rate each one based on its significance and deadline. You can also try the ABCDE method, where you categorize each task with a letter indicating its priority:

• "A" for tasks that are critical and must be done.

• "B" for tasks that are important but not as critical.

• "C" for tasks that are nice to do but not necessary.

• "D" for tasks that can be delegated.

• "E" for tasks that can be eliminated.

Always tackle "A" tasks first, as they need immediate action and have the greatest impact on your long-term goals and deadlines. Use tools like to-do lists or digital planners to keep track of your priorities and adjust as needed.

Which task should be first priority?

The task that should be your first priority is one that is both urgent and important. Urgent tasks have impending deadlines that require immediate attention, while important tasks have a significant impact on your goals and projects.

Focusing on tasks that meet both criteria ensures you address critical work that contributes to your objectives, preventing last-minute rushes and the stress of missed deadlines. After completing urgent and important tasks, shift your focus to important but not urgent tasks to maintain progress towards your goals.