Prioritising your workload plays a huge role in keeping your mind happy and healthy at work. It has been proven that an unorganised workspace can lead to a decrease in effective working and can often leave people feeling overwhelmed.
The main benefit of prioritising your to-do list is to help keep on top of tasks. Having a written or online action list keeps all your tasks in one place, and reduces the chance of you forgetting things. It helps to increase effective working and efficiency, makes you more likely to meet deadlines and helps you keep a clear headspace.
Prioritising your workload also allows you to be more creative when working. Having a clear mindset when working through tasks can often allow you to think outside of the box about new ideas and ways to complete your work activities. It also reduces stress, giving you a better work-life balance.
Here are our 4 tips for prioritising your work load:
- Having a list of all your tasks in front of you that can easily be added to and edited – some people might have a Word document on their computer that tasks can easily be added to or ticked off, other people prefer to write a to-do list by hand.
- Number your tasks by importance, the most important being first – is clearly shows the best order to complete tasks. A colour-coded system also works great.
- Set yourself realistic goals to achieve by the end of each day – set yourself 3 tasks to complete by the end of each day. If those get finished, start the other tasks one at a time so as not to overwhelm yourself.
- Allow time for interruptions in your planning – sitting in front of your computer all day is bad for your health, so schedule in regular screen breaks, time for lunch and time to deal with urgent tasks that may come up throughout the day.
