Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Create a to-do list
• Part 2 of 3: Arrange your tasks
• Part 3 of 3: Tackling the list
• Necessities
• Tips
• Warnings

Sometimes it seems like the whole world is overwhelming you. Your work and school duties keep piling up, as do household chores and responsibilities and your commitments to friends and family. It seems that some days just aren't enough hours. Learning to prioritize effectively can help you work more efficiently, save time and energy, and avoid stress. Learn how to divide your tasks into separate categories and levels of difficulty and tackle them in a professional manner.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Create a to-do list

1. Choose a time period for which you want to list. Do you have a particularly busy week ahead of you? A full day? Maybe you go crazy thinking about everything you have to do before the end of the year. Whatever your tasks and activities, choose a time period for the to-do list you want to create to help you prioritize and turn your stress into meaningful actions.
   • Below you short-term goals often involve different types of tasks. You may have several work tasks to complete before the end of the day, errands to do before returning home, or various chores to do around the house. You may have a list of things that cause stress, all the tasks you need to complete in the next few hours.
   • Below you long-term goals larger goals can fall that you have to divide into several steps and for which you also have to set priorities. Maybe you put something like finding and signing up for further education on your to-do list for the longer term. This goal includes many different smaller tasks. However, simply dividing this goal into several steps will make the process easier for you and clarify it.
2. Write down all the tasks you have to perform. Divide your work into different tasks and write down exactly what to do in the order that this occurs to you. Select and list all the tasks you need to complete within that particular time period that is causing you such stress right now - be they big or small - and list them. Put on your list all the projects you need to complete, decisions you need to make, and the errands you need to run.
3. Divide all tasks into different categories. It can help if you divide all your tasks into separate categories, essentially creating different to-do lists for different areas of your life. You can create a category for all household chores, as well as another category for all tasks for work or projects for school. If you have a busy social life, you may have a lot of activities during the weekend that you also need to prepare for and prioritize. Make a separate list for each category.
   • If it helps you to have one overview of all your tasks, then you can consider making one complete to-do list of all household chores and responsibilities, obligations at work and the necessary things you need to do for your social life . If you feel overwhelmed, it can help to put all of your tasks on paper side by side so that you start to see how important some individual tasks are compared to others.
4. Put the tasks on your list in the correct order. Think about which tasks on your list are the most important or urgent and rewrite your list with those tasks at the top. It all depends on you and the topics on your list. So you can decide that activities for school are more important than tasks for work or vice versa.
   • If all the tasks on your list are equally important and necessary, do not put any order in your list and complete your tasks in a random or alphabetical order. As long as you actively engage in completing and ticking off tasks on your list, all that matters is getting things done.
5. Keep the list in a visible place. Hang or put your list in a visible place so that you can use it as a reminder for the tasks you have yet to complete. This applies to all lists that you have drawn up for the long term. Actively check out or check off tasks after you complete them.
   • If you have a physical list on a piece of paper, hang it where you often look, such as the refrigerator door, a notice board near the front door, or the wall of your office.
   • You can also keep a list open on your computer desktop while you work on other things. This way you can keep this fresh in your memory and delete tasks when you have completed them.
   • Post-its are very suitable to hang in your house as a reminder. If you put a piece of paper on your television screen reminding you that you still have to work on your essay, you will remember to tackle the important tasks instead of wasting your time on something less productive.

Part 2 of 3: Arrange your tasks

1. Determine how important each task is. What are the most important tasks on your list? In general, you could determine that work or school tasks are more important than social obligations and household chores, but there may be some exceptions. For example, you also need to eat and shower, although you could wait another day to do the laundry while you first complete an important task for work.
   • Establish a few different levels to rank the various duties and standards on your list. Three could be a good number. The best and easiest way to rank the tasks on your list according to how important they are is to choose categories like High, Medium and Low. Be sensible in determining.
2. Determine how urgent each task is. Consider impending deadlines as well as your ability to meet those deadlines. Which task should you complete first? What tasks do you have to complete before the end of the day? For which task can you still take a little more time?
   • It is important to also consider the time it will take you to complete each task. You may even be able to assign a fixed time to certain tasks. If you find it important to exercise every day but you have a large amount of work to do, set a limit of half an hour to exercise and try to fit it into your day somewhere.
3. Determine how much effort each task takes you. You may need to bring something to the post office before the end of the day, but this is not an exceptionally difficult task. Arrange all the tasks on your list according to how difficult they are. This way you know where to put a task on your list compared to other tasks.
   • It can be effective to use difficulty settings as Difficult, Moderate and Easy to organize the tasks, instead of comparing and arranging the tasks according to each other. Don't worry if you sort the tasks before you assign a difficulty level to each item on your list. Do what works best for you.
4. Compare all tasks with each other and organize the list. At the top of the list, put the most important and urgent tasks that require the least effort. This way you can work as efficiently as possible within the time limit set by you.

Part 3 of 3: Tackling the list

1. Run one task at a time and continue until the task is completed. It's hard to get through the list by being selective and doing a little bit of each task. After a few hours, your list will still look like it does now: unfinished. Rather than doing a little bit of each task at a time, you should work on one task until you complete it and then after taking a short break, start the next task. Do not start any other tasks on your list until you have completed the first and most important tasks.
   • You can also look up tasks from multiple lists that you might be able to combine effectively. While it may not be a good idea to study your math notes and write a history essay at the same time, you can do laundry and wait for your clothes to dry while you study. This way you save time while you can still complete important tasks.
2. Decide which tasks you can leave to others and which ones you can skip. If the Internet stops working in your home, it can be tempting to go to the library and find information about wireless networks so that you can diagnose the problem yourself. But you can't do this if you still have to prepare dinner, assess 20 drafts for the next morning, and do 50 other things. Maybe it would be better to call your internet service provider instead?
   • It's okay if you decide that a task is just not worth your time, or that leaving a task to someone else for a certain price is better than the time you would spend on it yourself. You can buy new, expensive wire for your fence or you can get your own wire from the junkyard, where you have to spend several hours digging through the scrap metal in the hot sun. But if it turns out that you only save a few euros with this, it is probably more worthwhile to just buy new wire from the store.
3. Alternate between different types of tasks on your list. Organizing your time to work on different types of tasks will keep you fresh while working on your tasks and help you complete the list faster. Alternate between a list of homework tasks and a list of household tasks to work as effectively as possible. Take short breaks between tasks and complete different tasks. This way you stay fresh and you can continue to work efficiently.
4. Start with the least fun or the most difficult tasks. Depending on your character, it can be good for your confidence and persistence if you complete the task that you least look forward to first. This may not necessarily be the most difficult or important task, but for some people it can be effective to complete this task first in order to save the easier tasks for later.
   • Your English essay may be a lot more important than your math homework, but if you really hate math, it's best to work on it first. Once you've gotten rid of it, you can free up all the time you need to work on your essay on your own. This way you can focus your attention completely on your essay without any problems.
5. In some cases, let important tasks take precedence over urgent tasks. You may find yourself in a situation where you only have 10 minutes to pick up the latest Game of Thrones DVD you ordered from the library on the other side of town. This makes it the most urgent task on your list, but you may be able to spend that time better by working on your essay for English that is more important. Waiting has given yourself more time to get your DVD. You may have more time for it tomorrow.
6. Cross out the tasks on your list after you complete them. Congratulations! As you work on your list, take a moment to triumphantly cross out the completed task, remove it from the document on your computer, or aggressively cut the task from the paper with a rusty pocket knife and the scraps ceremonially burn paper. Take a moment to reward yourself for every little achievement you have achieved. You're doing well!

Necessities

• Pencil
• Paper
• Highlighter

Tips

• Help and instruct others. If you finish your tasks earlier, offer your family and friends to help and explain things to them. Your parents could reward you with extra pocket money.
• Give yourself time to rest, relax and recharge.
• Consider dividing a long task into several shorter tasks. Shorter tasks are less scary and easier to complete.
• Ask for help. Let your family or friends do some of the tasks on your list.
• Use the notepad or a spreadsheet on your computer. That way you don't have to rewrite your list.
• If it is a school project, put the assignments that are worth more points or have to be completed earlier at the top of the list.
• For tasks that require more effort, you should probably consider scheduling more time to complete them.
• Be realistic about what you can complete in a given period of time.
• If you have two tasks that are equally important or urgent, consider the one that is least difficult for you.
• Schedule time for unexpected tasks.
• Work on a task for half an hour to an hour. This is a reasonable amount of time to focus before you need a break.
• Skip or procrastinate some tasks if they are not very important and require a lot of effort.

Warnings

• Your own safety and that of others is the number one priority in any task.
• Your personal life, happiness and integrity should be at the top of your priority list.