Prioritize like a juggler
Prioritizing is easier said than done. When there is too much to do, people often suggest, ‘taking something off your plate.’ It is sometimes impossible to take things off your plate. You simply cannot ignore tasks that you must complete. However, you can't do them all at the same time. So, instead of removing items from your plate, learn to juggle.
Even if you don’t know how to juggle, you know that a juggler throws balls into the air at different times. There are also more balls than you have hands. I like to compare prioritizing to juggling. Much like juggling - you have multiple balls that you must pay attention to. If you throw all of them up at the same time, you can't catch them all. You can't focus on all the balls at the same time. When you juggle, you focus on one ball at a time - putting almost all of your attention on the ball that is coming down. That is your priority. In the meantime, the other balls are in the air. You haven't forgotten about them, they are just on the back burner, in motion and waiting for the necessary time for your attention. Once you catch the ball that is coming down, you take care of it and throw it back up. As soon as you do, another ball comes down and you pay attention to that.
George Couros, an educational innovator, agrees. He talks about how to focus on the most important things in life in his blog, The Big Rocks in our Life. There is a great 3-minute video about priorities with a metaphor of fitting rocks in a jar.
Now, you may think that this can be exhausting. However, experienced jugglers are stressed all the time. With practice of focusing on the right ball at the right time, they become comfortable and fluid. So, continue to practice on the right ball and the most important ball at a time. With time, you may feel more comfortable too.
Questions to help identify the right ball:
Are there deadlines? Whose deadlines are they? What happens if the deadlines aren’t met?
What tasks are most aligned to the purpose, goals, or vision?
Are the right people doing the right tasks? Is there collaboration or delegation that could occur?
What is most important? How do you know?
