Stick to Your Priorities

You do know what your priorities are, don’t you? If not, it’s time to figure them out. Make a list of your typical job tasks, review your job description, determine what’s getting done and what isn’t, and meet with your manager for a heart-to-heart.

Tell her you’re dedicated to doing your job and doing it well, but there are times when it’s just not possible to do it all. Ask her advice: “Of this list of responsibilities, can you show me what’s most important?” Ask her then to rank the remaining items.

Now it’s your responsibility to arrange your schedule accordingly. If your boss says the weekly report is your most important responsibility and you’ve consistently neglected it, move it up on your list. Conversely, if interdepartmental meetings are just not that critical to her, you know what to skip if you must.

For added motivation, type up your list of priorities and post it over your desk. Now you’ll always know what you should be doing.