Setting Your Priorities

It can be a sticky situation. You know your priorities, yet multiple things seem to conspire against holding fast to them. I try to hold the line, but as a busy professional, mom, wife, friend, and neighbor, sometimes my priorities must get reshuffled.

I’m no expert, but there are things that have helped me along the way, and perhaps they can be beneficial to you as well:

The most important thing is to KNOW your priorities because having focus and commitment makes it more probable that you will be able to keep to your plan. This should include “big-picture” things and encompass how you wish to live your life. At some point or another, I think that all of us have to make these types of decisions.

Create a plan for each day, week, or month. Having a plan creates the structure that is needed to get your priorities accomplished. Leaving things to chance is almost a guarantee that what you want to get done will remain undone!

Be flexible, this isn’t the time to be rigid and beat yourself up if and when things have to be reshuffled. With that being said, you will probably have priorities that must remain sacrosanct, and that’s okay as well. Just don’t be too hard on yourself.

Sit back and reflect on how it’s going. Are you taking on too much; no, really, are you trying to do so much that there is zero possibility that you can do it all? Are you overlooking something that shouldn’t fall off of your priority list, but has? Going deep and examining your priorities on a regular basis means a greater opportunity for success.

And while we’re on the subject of priorities, don’t forget about YOU! There’s no sense in setting priorities and neglecting to include time for self-care, whatever self-care means to you. You physical and mental health must be in tip-top shape to take care of the myriad of other responsibilities that fall into your lap.

I hope this helps and let me know how you handle your priorities.