This is probably the most exceptional, prioritization strategy I’ve ever learned. I have taught this to thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people. And I have repeated feedback from people who use it saying how much they get done because they know exactly what to do that is most important.
You need to do this the night before, just like we talked about. That way when you arrive in the morning you pull it out, you look at it. You know the most imperative things for you to do and you start on those. It’s an absolutely great strategy. Thank you, Gerald Jennings!
One of the things we also need to talk about here in this process is prioritization. What Mr. Jennings did is he forced prioritization. He knew what he needed to get done but he had to have a way to prioritize.
Now when you ask yourself a question like, “If I could only do one thing before I left for a month…” You are truly talking about the most important, the highest level priority, things to get done. You need to think about that. You need to prioritize everything you’re doing. Don’t just make a list of 100 things. Prioritize which are most important. That way you don’t have to stare at your list for a half an hour. Prioritize first, then start.
Here’s something else that’s important. Six, when you are prioritizing your list you need to make certain that your values and your goals are aligned because those can come in conflict.
For instance, think about if your highest values were ranked money, work, hobbies and then family? Do you think you would behave any differently than if they were ranked family, hobbies, work and money? Absolutely. Because you will give priority to the things that are of highest value to you.