First things first

First things first

November 2014

By Sunil Parekh

Prioritize to make sure that the important things in your life come first, says Sunil Parekh Jayesh was an unhappy man. He had all the money in the world but his health was in poor shape, and his relationships were hurting. He realised that unwittingly he had focussed on making money instead of on what mattered most to him. Have you found yourself in a situation where there’s too much to do, everything seems to be important, and you don’t know where to start? Is there a solution to this? Yes, indeed, and that is prioritisation, which is about finding out what matters most. Success can be defined as the progressive realisation of a predetermined goal. This definition tells us that the discipline to prioritise and the ability to work towards a stated goal are essential for success. This reminds me of a principle that I came across in a seminar several years back which actually turned around my life. It was called the Pareto principle. I stumbled upon it when I had just ventured into my own business. In a new business, one typically ends up doing everything from filing, to marketing, to production, to even cleaning the office. I was no different. This became very overwhelming with time, and I realised that I was not really making any progress.

Then I applied the Pareto principle to my life, which made all the difference. The Pareto principle The Pareto principle (also called the 80/20 rule) says that for many events, roughly 80 per cent of the effects come from 20 per cent of the causes. Some common examples of the Pareto principle: Products: 20 per cent of the products manufactured bring 80 per cent of the profits Exam: 20 per cent of what we study produces 80 per cent of the results. Reading: 20 per cent of the book contains 80 per cent of the content. Picnic: 20 per cent of the people will eat up 80 per cent of the food! In the case of prioritizing, here is what the principle looks like: 20 per cent of your efforts will give you 80 per cent of your results. In other words, spend your time, energy, money and resources on the 20 per cent that matters most to you. So the key is to identify that 20 per cent of activity which will give you 80 per cent of the results. Your time must be focussed on these activities alone, while delegating or eliminating the rest of the 80 per cent. Smart work

In the book First Things First, authors Stephen Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merril teach us a wonderful system for prioritising and finding out what matters most to us. It’s called the four quadrant method. The activities that typically happen on any given day can be divided into four categories: 1. Quadrant 1: High importance, high urgency: these are things you can’t put off. They have to be done and NOW. For eg, you kept delaying the payment of your electricity bill, and then you finally forget to pay the bill. Don’t be surprised if you suddenly get a frantic call from home saying, “They are here to cut the electric supply!!”.

In this situation, you can’t do anything but drop everything and run to pay the bill. You can’t ignore this because now it has become a crisis. Other activities in this quadrant are pressing problems, projects that are deadline driven and things that are sometimes beyond your control. Staying in this quadrant creates stress. 2. Quadrant 2: High importance, low urgency: This is the best quadrant to be in because though the activities are not urgent they are important and they are the ones that will give you long-term benefits. If you regularly spend time with your child understanding his/her requirements, you will end up with a wonderful relationship with your child for lifetime. If you take care of your car by regularly servicing it, chances are it will not break down. Same with our health. 3. Quadrant 3: Low importance, high urgency: These are activities that seem urgent but don’t really matter much in terms of the results they produce. I once worked with a company to improve its organisational effectiveness. When I studied how top executives of the company were spending time, I found that most of it was devoted to meetings. Naturally they had not much time for action. 4. Quadrant 4: Low importance, low urgency: These are absolute time wasters. Watching too much TV, hanging around aimlessly in malls, chit chatting and gossiping are all time-wasters which really don’t get us anywhere. How to prioritize Spend maximum time in Quadrant 2 and minimum time on Quadrant 3 and 4. Once you spend adequate time in Quadrant 2, the number of critical situations and urgencies will reduce, and you can spend less time in Quadrant 1. This way there will be little or no stress, and you can maximise your results. Make a resolution to spend maximum time where it matters most. Sometimes, everything seems important and urgent. How should one prioritise in such a case? Here’s an interesting way I learnt from one of my coaches: Ask the following three questions to yourself (The 3R formula): – What is REQUIRED of me? These are all theactivities that no one else but you can do. – What gives me the greatest RETURN? These are activities that you do the best and give you maximum return. – What is most REWARDING? Life is too short not to be fun. These are the activities that give you the most JOY. Take some time and find out the activities that make you feel happy and joyous. Success will be greatly enhanced in your life if the 3Rs (Requirement/Return/Reward) are yoked. In other words, if what you are required to do is in line with your strengths, they will give you the maximum return, and will also give you great pleasure. For example as a success coach and facilitator in my organisation, I am required to coach people to achieve success and facilitate workshops. These activities not only give me maximum returns, but also give me maximum joy. So for me, the topmost priorities as far as work is concerned, are coaching, facilitating workshops, writing a book, creating audio programmes, or giving a motivational speech at a conference. All other activities are delegated to people who are good at their respective tasks. It is also important to realise that priorities constantly change. Revisit your priorities every month and check if you need to re-prioritize. To keep priorities in place: • Evaluate: Every month review the 3Rs (Requirement/Return/Reward ) • Eliminate: Ask yourself “what am I doing that can be done by someone else?” • Estimate: What are the top projects in your hand and how long will they take? Remember, the “good” things are normally the biggest enemies of the “best” things. We must constantly practice to stay focussed on the best – things that give maximum return in minimum time.

Too many tasks can paralyse us. They overwhelm us and our mind is no longer able to stay focussed. And when there is no focus, nothing meaningful gets achieved. Which means we are moving away from true success and happiness. Prioritize what’s important for you and stay focussed on these priorities! Unlike Jayesh, don’t be in a situation where you realize your priorities when it’s too late. Good examples of these could be neglected health and relationships. Good luck and happy prioritizing.

Bio: Sunil Parekh is an international success coach and a mind power trainer. He is the CEO of RISE Development Academy.