How to set priorities in life?

We all live through the day by digesting food made from the recipe for madness. We are knocking down pillars of with our perseverance and pure will power. Running so fast, so that we are ahead of the flock, sometimes running ahead could also make you feel like you're leading the flock. We are becoming so good at smashing all the stones thrown at us, one after the other. I've seen that, I've been there; it makes you feel like you are in control of your life. But you're not.

I'm not here to tell you your average 9-5 jobs are pathetic nor you are doing things wrong. I'm just telling how I feel it should be done.

If you are following your inbox as your to-do list, I think you should stop that first before read further. 

Why set priorities?

Setting priorities is comparatively more complicated that just going head on with the tasks assigned to us or with the task in out inbox. Then why take the trouble to set priorities? Its simple, even though setting priorities is complicated; ones it's set, your life becomes far less complicated that it is now for sure.

Like I mentioned setting priorities is complicated, I would like to share some of methods I find interesting and useful when setting priorities. following even one of these methods, even though would seem yet another hurdle in your life, I can assure you that it would be a hurdle you would want to jump with everything you've got and your rest of the hurdles will be nothing more than just stones in your path. 

Covey method 

Stephen Covey’s quadrant system is a good way to start setting your priorities. Simply put Covey method amounts to an x/y axis divided into degrees of urgency and importance

Stephen Covey’s quadrant system

The Covey’s method simply suggests you categorize you task under the following for categories. where 1 being the most Important task and 4 being the least important task

1.     Important and Urgent.
2.     Important and Not Urgent.
3.     Not Important but Urgent.
4.     Not Important and Not Urgent.

This method somewhat goes hand in hand with the phrase 'Move the big rocks first'. So in this case your biggest rocks are the tasks in the first category - 'Important and Urgent'.

This is on of the most famous methods in setting priorities. I don’t want to stress too much on this method. Simply by doing a simple google search you will come across plenty of resources you can read about 'Stephen Covey’s quadrant system'. Apart from these standard system and methodologies you can come up with your own methodology.

Setting priorities is all about "discipline", not just setting but also following them after setting the priorities. Understanding your personality not only allows you to be more productive, it also makes you more efficient. It helps you understand what you want in life the most... Now, why am I talking about understanding yourselves all of a sudden? Well, because understanding what you want in your life the most will be most important thing in your life with the highest priority.

Write down these things you want in life and give them a time frame, could be a year or five. Next depending on the t time frame you give what should you do to achieve your goal annually, monthly, weekly and daily. This way you have broken down your huge impossible task into small chunks.

Let’s say mine would be something like this:

    1 year list         : Things to create, own, experience this year

    5 year list         : Things to create, own, experience in the next five years.

    Life list             : Things to have created, owned, experienced before I die.

Then I would take the 1 year list' and write down what I should achieve monthly to reach my goal in the year end and while I write that I should be also thinking how the task I do would help me achieve my goal in the '5 year list'.

Again, this is just another way to set priorities, find your own way, or even better, invent you own method and share it in the comments.

And always ask yourself, "What is the most important thing in my life?”-This would let you look beyond your tasks assigned in the office be someone else you'll have to do it willingly or unwillingly.