Prioritizing Tasks
- id: 1752159504
- Date: July 10, 2025, 3:06 p.m.
- Author: Donald F. Elger
How to Prioritize Tasks Within a Role
This lesson shows how to prioritize tasks within any role (area of responsibility or concern) so that you get the best results with the least effort, stress, or cost (maximize your payoffs).
Goal
Prioritize tasks so that you:
- Achieve the most important outcomes
- Stay focused and calm
- Avoid wasting effort on low-value work
What is a Role?
A role is any area where you have responsibility or concern. Examples:
- Parent
- Project Manager
- Team Member
- Home Maintainer
- Learner
- Engineer
- Coder
- Marketer
- Sales
Why Prioritize?
Because you can’t do everything at once. Prioritization helps you:
- Focus on what matters most
- Say no to distractions
- Make steady, visible progress
- Feel confident that you are doing the right things
How to Prioritize Tasks
1. Clarify the Role’s Purpose
Ask:
- What is the main job of this role?
- What outcomes am I responsible for?
- What does success look like?
Example: A team leader’s job might be “Empower the team to deliver on time and grow in skill.”
2. List All Tasks
Brain-dump every task related to this role. Don’t worry about order yet.
3. Sort by Impact
Classify each task:
- High Impact: Advances your goal or solves a major issue
- Medium Impact: Helpful, but not critical
- Low Impact: Maintains status quo
Ask:
If I only did this task, would it lead to major progress?
4. Assess Urgency
For each task, ask:
- Does it have a deadline?
- Will there be negative consequences if I delay?
Label each task:
- Critical (Must do now)
- Soon
- Later
5. Use the ICE Method (Impact × Confidence × Ease)
Score each task from 1 to 10 on:
- Impact – how valuable the outcome is
- Confidence – how sure you are it will work
- Ease – how easy or quick it is to do
Then multiply:
ICE = I × C × E
Higher score = higher priority
6. Use a 2x2 Matrix
| Urgent | Not Urgent | |
|---|---|---|
| Important | Do First | Schedule |
| Not Important | Delegate | Eliminate |
7. Limit Active Tasks
- Focus on 1–3 high-value tasks at a time.
- Group low-effort tasks into batches.
8. Review Weekly
- Reprioritize
- Remove tasks that no longer matter
- Add new insights or opportunities
Example
Role: Team Leader
Purpose: Help team deliver projects on time and grow in
skill.
| Task | Impact | Urgency | ICE Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coach a stuck team member | High | Soon | 9×9×5 = 405 |
| Write internal newsletter | Low | Critical | 2×10×8 = 160 |
| Clear project blocker with manager | High | Urgent | 8×8×6 = 384 |
| Plan team lunch | Medium | Later | 5×6×9 = 270 |
Do First: Clear blocker, coach teammate
Schedule: Plan lunch
Reconsider: Delegate newsletter
Summary
Prioritizing tasks within a role helps you maximize payoffs (rewards minus drawbacks taken holistically).
Here is the framework
- Role Purpose
- Impact/Urgency
- ICE scoring
- 2x2 Matrix
- Weekly reviews