If someone asked you to identify your top priorities for achieving your goals, could you answer right away? Or, do you struggle with highlighting what is most important to you regarding your work, family, and personal goals?
If so, you’re not alone.
You see, as I get to know all you busy-awesome readers, I’m discovering how much passion, excitement, and dedication you all have. It’s absolutely inspiring, to say the least.
But, while such ambition is incredible, it can also make it challenging for us to identify our top priorities. And when we don’t know where to put our focus, it’s much harder to reach our goals.
You see, our wide range of interests and our drive toward success can often pull us in several different directions, and when this happens, our main priorities get a little obscured.
So, if you ever find yourself wondering, “what should I focus on right now?” or if you ever think to yourself, “I have no idea where to start, I have so many things I want to do!” then this post is for you.
Today you will learn how to identify your top priorities by asking yourself one simple question.
How to identify your top priorities by asking yourself this simple question
Grab a piece of paper and a pen, and answer the following question. If possible, don’t hesitate before writing it down. Simply write down the first thing that comes to mind; we will expand from there.
Are you ready? Here is your question:
If you had two more hours in the day, what would you do?
Yep. The question is as simple as that.
If you had two more hours in the day, what would you do?
- Would you spend more time with family and friends?
- Perhaps you’d focus on your big work project?
- Would you work on your side hustle?
- Maybe you’d spend more time building your social media followers?
- Would you sleep?
There is no right or wrong answer here. Rather, this question provides a window into what is most important to you, and often what is most lacking in your life during this particular season.
If your immediate thought was, “I would head straight to bed and get more sleep,“ perhaps one of your top priorities for this season should be self-care. Because chances are, that gut response is telling you that you need time to recharge.
If you immediately thought, “I would finally finish that work project that’s been looming over my head for weeks,“ then it’s probably time to start saying no to additional responsibilities so you can focus on what’s important. It’s time to cut out distractions like social media and email, and practice single tasking at least an hour each day as you work on that top priority.
If your answer was “spend more time with my family,” then maybe it’s time to start setting work boundaries for yourself, unplugging from technology a bit, and setting aside time throughout the day to build those important relationships.
Once you answer this one question, then take a few minutes to reflect on it:
- How can you make more time throughout the day for this top priority?
- Can you practice time blocking and make room in your schedule each day?
- Can you say no to distractions and stay focused on the task at hand?
- Maybe it is time to unplug from technology – if even for a short time – so you can put all of your efforts into this goal.
Map out a plan for yourself, and stick to it.
In fact, I challenge you to stick to it for just one week. It may feel challenging at first because it’s out of your normal routine, but remind yourself that what you’re doing allows you to focus on your top priorities.
This is what is important to you.
Question:
How do you identify your top priorities? What popped into your head when I asked, “what would you do with two extra hours per day?“ Do you have any strategies for making time for your priorities? Let me know below!