Setting Your Priorities and Managing It All

If life were easy, we’d have only a few metaphorical balls to juggle – like health and family and maybe catching that new season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Amazon Prime. But alas, the our responsibilities and priorities are legion. Which makes juggling all of them pretty difficult. Is there a secret to setting your priorities and managing it all? Is there some special ingredient to make everything work?

There is, actually. The short answer is that the special ingredient is you. The long answer is…

Asses Your Priorities and Stick to Them

Ask yourself, “What do I consider most important in my life?” Evaluating your life and what you want to achieve or what goal you aim to reach will guide you in ranking your priorities from most important to the less important ones. And when you’ve done setting priorities, you’ll be able to see clearly which activities are time-suckers and which are worth pursuing. But a word of warning: Don’t be complacent as you go along. You need to stick to your guns, so to speak, and remain resolute in prioritizing your priorities.

In managing daily tasks, there some things that you need to say no to even if they are part of your priority list, so that you may say yes to those aligned with your topmost priorities. Eventually, you then reach your ultimate end-goal. So, make sure that you rank your to-dos according to what’s most important. And when the time comes you’re faced with the need to choose between sleeping in and going to the gym, you’ll know what to do.

Put Discipline and Consistency on Top

To be successful in managing it all in your life, you need to cultivate and maintain these two key qualities: discipline and consistency. The former will help you grow an “end in mind” focus, while the latter will help you get to that end in mind or goal your working toward. In this case, it is managing your daily priorities successfully.

So how do you develop discipline? Well, it begins by setting priorities, committing to your goals, and doing what you need to do even when you don’t feel like it. And consistency? You repeat that action daily regardless of external circumstances or petty excuses. And in just one month of exercising these qualities, you’ll see yourself closer to becoming an expert at managing daily tasks.

Work Hard Now, Play Later

This advice is aligned to the age-old, proven tip of practicing delayed gratification—or simply, saying no to temporary comfort or convenience for the purpose of achieving the long-term benefit, such as developing discipline. Yes, in a world where everything fun or pleasurable must be had right away, the art of delaying gratification is slowly becoming obsolete. But if you keep the end in mind and stick to your bold goal of being able to manage it all, then it would be relatively easier to follow this advice. And the trade-off for doing so is to your advantage. You’ll be able to manage and accomplish all your priorities with flying colors. You will also reap the reward of having a great time relaxing without worrying if you’ve left any stone unturned.

Exercise and Rest for Physical and Mental Health

Doing simple exercises like running or power walking can benefit you not only physically but also mentally. A strong, disciplined body can do wonders for your mental health and vice versa. In fact, if you push yourself more in your daily exercise, your body will produce more happy hormones that can help boost your energy and determination to wisely managing daily tasks and your 24 hours, seven days a week.

In the same way, sleeping or resting is a must; it’s a definite need so you can be the best version of yourself and tackle each day’s challenges. Lack of rest can be both physically and mentally draining. And you certainly won’t be able to manage your daily activities if you’re too tired to do so. In short, that is why you need to make sleep or rest a priority—as important as your No. 1 priority or task for the day.

Be Kind to Yourself

Yes, you are only human. We all make mistakes, it’s true. And it’s only understandable that you’ll find yourself stumbling in your daily responsibilities, maybe because of an error in setting priorities. When that happens, be kind to yourself and take a moment to breathe. Pause and settle your frazzled thoughts for a while. Maybe, take a short power nap, then start again. What’s great about this life is for as long as you have air in your lungs, you can pivot and start anew.

So, why is being kind to yourself also a key to managing everything in your life? In truth, you are your own No. 1 encourager and No. 1 discourager. If you’re unkind to yourself, you’ll undoubtedly discourage yourself from achieving your bold goal of managing daily tasks with success.

The Top-Secret Ingredient to Managing Daily Tasks

So, the No. 1 secret ingredient to managing it all? Well, it’s you, of course. It’s not surprising that you’ve reached this part of the article. Only a person who is eager to live a bolder life would read an article with this title. It is only natural that those determined to live a full, bold life would want to be able to manage it all in their life successfully.

Hence, to end, as long as you resolve in yourself the decision to be intentional with your time, life, and daily responsibilities—as well as push yourself to discipline and consistency each day—then you’re one step farther to living a bolder life.