Prioritize to not go crazy
As a Product Owner and Business Analyst, every day we receive requests from different parties. Most of the time, the petitioner really thinks her or his request is urgent, and should be solved immediatly. But truth is, most of them are not.
We always have so many things to do, but not enough resources. So, how we beat the pressure and not lose our minds in the meantime? Prioritizing.
Good time management means being effective as well as efficient.We all know the Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle, which is where we locate our various tasks depending on its importance in the follow diagram:
When we know what is important/urgent and what is not; we can focus on what really gives value to our role. This is how we should act depending on the location of the petition.
Urgent & important: This is a NECESSITY, do it immediately. Is normal to have fires from time to time; but, if ithappens a lot, identify which of these you could avoid in the future. You could find that some of them could have been planned ahead and been prevented.
Not urgent, but important: These tasks need QUALITY, decide when you will do it. These are projects that will help you achieve your professional goals. Take time to plan them, and treat them with care.
Urgent, but not important: These tasks leads you to DECEPTION, delegate them to someone else. These are distractions and interruptions, usually from people in your own office. Try to avoid them as much as you can, even though it can be hard to say “no”.
Not urgent & not Important: These tasks can go directly into the TRASH can; you can do them later, or not do them at all. These are all distractions and have no contribution value whatsoever, make sure they are the last thing on your “to-do” checklist.
