Everything is necessary but some are important and a few are urgent.
I once had a conversation with a friend and I realized that he complained a lot about him being so busy that he hardly had time to meet up with important things.
Giving thought to this I realized that sometimes time is not the issue but the proper placement of priorities matter.
To be identified as a person of high importance and relevance we have to set priorities and stick to them. Now, you have the question going on in your mind, what if changes come?
For a professional, working in an organization where you barely cannot make your priority list because one job or the other comes up and you try so hard to please everyone. If a task comes to your table and you have your priority set, you could politely say, I am working on these few within this delivery time but will definitely make out time for yours within these hours. This statement does two things, it keeps you on check and assures the other person that you would get it done even though not at that same hour.
The idea of trying to please people against our own priorities can lead to a few, which includes
• Tension and Panic: You try so hard to rush up things which in turn might lead to work not properly done or task not properly carried out.
As a leader, this should be put in check, you are not striving to be perfect but you are striving to be better.
• Loss of Time: you spend time doing that which is necessary at the cost of that which is important because you are trying to satisfy people.
A leader balances satisfaction with achievement. By this I mean if you handle important and treat necessary at a later time, you will not only save time but also get to satisfy everyone.
• You will lose the trust of people: Your priorities are task to be fulfilled to achieve a purpose. If you stated it on your priority list that you will help someone create an excel sheet and in turn, you ended up typing a document for someone else, you satisfied one and lost the trust of others.
A leader should be able to handle changing situations, probably that which the later brought was more important but do not just attend to that at the detriment of the other, find a place of balance.
A colleague lost her job even though she worked very hard and everyone began wondering, what went wrong. She was one who could sacrifice her time to please everyone around her. To her, she was doing her best to make everyone even the organization proud, she attended to your task immediately you brought it to her table and you gladly tell her “Thank you, I appreciate”. She believed she was doing her very best but little did she know she was working but she actually wasn’t productive.
That brings us to the final damage which not setting priorities can lead to:
• Lack of Results: she helped everyone satisfy their need but barely helped herself help the company. In turn she did not produce any results and that was her job.
As a leader, it is important to set your priorities right to:
• Achieve more results
• save time
• Gain trust
• Be a person of influence
Do not end up being a person of “all fluffy and no stuff”. It is a process but it is achievable. Now its left to you to start setting your priorities and be faithful to themhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/LifesTreasury
