In recent staff/organizational development discussions…the “how do you get better at prioritizing for your workplace?” has been a primary topic.  I first told them I believe the improvement approaches vary by individual…but to get a better visual of the prioritization challenge the group had fun taking part in a couple mind exercises.

First, I asked the group to think about all the messages they receive each day via telephone, in-person, email, newspaper, television, social media, etc.  And consider each message as a “sticky-note” …color coordinated by source…all placed on a white board.  There were laughs and gasps…but all seemed to understand how overwhelming that would be for just one day.  The exercise concluded when I asked them to view their imaginary boards and determine if they can see specific priorities coming through…or are their boards more like those pictures that you can’t see an image unless someone points it out to you?!?

Think about it!

The second exercise had everyone visualize your messages trying to be funneled into your brain…and a smaller “pipe” showing priorities exiting your brain.  Again, the giggles…but more importantly was the realization of what do you do with all of that excess messaging information taking up space in your mind?

This is another time management area where SIMPLICITY MATTERS!  As messages come to you it is critical to ask: What is wanted or needed to make it a priority…before making decision room for details.  Also, identifying the timeframes for action is a screening tool for priority setting that will assist in opening (or closing) the messaging input funnel.  Additionally, it is YOUR responsibility to inform message senders of your process for priority setting and that they too must understand that SIMPLICITY MATTERS.