PRIORITISING

Do you think about all the tasks/homework/study/practice you need to do and get so overwhelmed you don’t know where to start?

Or… Do you spend WAY too long on the lower priority tasks and not enough time on the high priority tasks?

Activity: Write a quick list of everything you need to do for school up until the end of term (we are in Week 8 now!). Anything that comes to mind, put it on the list!

Now explore the following techniques and see which one of these would work best for you

A Simple To Do List Don’t make the list totally unrealistic or it will just make you feel more stressed out Overestimate the time needed for each task (everything always takes longer than you think). Realise the list will be flexible and things will change. Divide the list into things that must be done and things that would be good to do. Highlight the most essential and most urgent tasks. Work out the order in which you will do the tasks MOST IMPORTANT tasks FIRST (not the things you like most first) LEAST IMPORTANT tasks LAST (not things you like least last)

Rule of Three Technique Circle the top 3 tasks that need to be done. What is most important and most urgent? Put them in order from 1 to 3. Start at the first task and complete it before moving onto the second. Once all three tasks are completed, look through your list again to choose the new top 3 tasks. Don’t cheat yourself – you have to complete fully the first task before moving to the second.

Deciding What is Most Important and Urgent Discuss: What sort of tasks would you consider to be most urgent? What sort of tasks would you consider to be less urgent but still important? What are you trying to avoid?

CULL TECHNIQUE This involves taking your list of everything you need to do then labelling each item with: C: critical U: Urgent L: Later L: Lose it Discuss examples of each of these. Do you have any on your lists?

Once you have your priorities (this means no longer focusing on the “L” tasks) focus only on the “C” tasks. Once these are complete you can move to the “U” tasks When all “C” and “U” tasks are done, go back to your list and rank it again so that you have a new set of “C” and “U” tasks to work on

Setting Clear Time Limits What happens when you leave heaps of time to do a task ? Before you are about to start a task, estimate how long it will take to do it, and set yourself a time limit. If you put a bit of time pressure on yourself you will be less likely to be bored. You will find yourself more motivated to complete the task by the deadline than if you just drag the task out until you finish it. Make your time limits realistic. Base it on how long it should actually take, not how long you need it to take to finish everything.

Rock, Pebble, Sand How do you think this image relates to our topic of prioritising time?

What happens if you put the sand in first then the pebbles? The rocks won’t fit. But if you do it the other way, put the rocks in first, then pop in the pebbles around the sides of the rocks, then sprinkle in the sand it, all fits in no problem at all. What does this mean in terms of time management?

If you do the big tasks first (the rocks), you will find time for the smaller tasks (the pebbles) and you’ll easily sprinkle in the sand (the little fiddly things). So if you deal with the rocks first you’ll actually still find time for the other tasks to fit around it. Does it work the other way round?

Draw up a table with 3 columns and divide up your list into these Rocks (most important tasks) Pebbles (may be important but not as urgent) Sand (Little Fiddly tasks that can slot in anywhere) Study for Geography Assessment in class tomorrow! Start draft for English due next Monday Reorganise loose papers into folders and glue in sheets

Which Technique do you think could work best for you?