Overloaded? Prioritize with ABC

The ABC might mean to you the alphabet, but it is also a very simple and useful time management trick. It evolves basically around how you prioritize your to-dos based on their importance and urgency.

So, use A, B or C for the following:

A, if a matter is urgent but also important for you. In this case, you need to deal with it as soon as possible.

B, if a matter is important but it is not that urgent. In this case you have the freedom to plan when to deal with it in advance.

C, if a matter is urgent but it is not that important for you. In this case, you might pass on to somebody else, or you might eliminate it from your list altogether.

What to do with A, B or C?

With ‘A’ there is not much discussion and dilemma. It needs to be solved as soon as possible and most certainly it has to be done by you. You need to have time for this, and you need it now!

With ‘B’ there is the option to decide when and how to deal with exactly because of its lack of urgency. If you have more Bs on your list, you have the real chance to plan well in advance and to avoid periods of high pressure in your life. It is unavoidable to have urgent matters in your life, some coming from what your surrounding people do, but try to focus on having as much B-type tasks as possible.

With ‘C’, the case is that most certainly it doesn’t have to be you dealing with it except if you have some free time available, you want to make it important to you, like helping a friend or colleague out, transforming this C into an A-priority task.

But how would this work in an ideal way?

One might ask what the ideal combination of ‘ABC’ prioritizing is good for one’s mental health or efficient time management . It is certainly a task list where B-type tasks are dominating. But, while this seems the most logical answer, one can still think also on the personality types of people as some might have the drive to work with A-type situations, keeping focus on the matters of urgency and then disconnecting totally. However, having mostly B-type issues allows one to do better planning as might be much harder to control.

How do you prioritize your tasks for yourself? Share it with us!