“If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”

- Greg McKeown (Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less)

I used to think that being busy meant I was being productive. I’d fill my schedule with work, side projects with multiple organizations, and social activities.

But there came a point when I started burning out and feeling unhappy. Instead of accomplishing anything significant in any one activity, I was spreading myself too thin and was only making tiny incremental progress on multiple fronts. This was depressing as I watched people continuously improve on a skill I was also pursuing. I’ll admit that I shouldn’t have compared myself to anyone in the first place, but that topic will be on another blog post.

We only have a limited amount of time, energy, & mental capacity, and we can’t do it all. I wanted to stop being overwhelmed and realized I should prioritize what’s most important to my life.

I had too much on my plate and needed to remove some of the barriers that were preventing me from completing my most valuable work.

Looking at a list of my activities, I started to ask myself two questions:

What excites me, brings me energy, and brings fulfillment?
What adds value to my life?

Initially, I thought that everything I did excite me and made me feel fulfilled. But going through this exercise helped me have a different perspective.

I began to categorize my activities into three different buckets:

“Non-negotiables” - tasks that energize you and add value to different aspects of your life (i.e. healthy habits, creative hobbies, & meaningful interactions). Make sure you don’t skip these. Set your schedule with these first before adding anything else.

“Shoulds” - you may not get excited about these, but they add value to your life. Let’s be real, some of us hate cooking meals at home, but we can save money and ideally eat a healthier meal. These sorts of activities may drain us, but most likely add value to our lives. Add these activities to your calendar after your “non-negotiables. (Note: You can delegate, automate, or batch these activities such as hiring house cleaners, automating your finances, meal-prepping, etc.)

“Eliminate” - these activities don’t add any energy nor add any value to your life. They’re the unhealthy habits, toxic relationships, and even activities that stop serving your needs. Removing these activities from your life makes more room for your “non-negotiables.”

Only you know what provides the most value to you and your life. With the right mindset shift and intentional prioritization, you CAN build your life around the things that are most important to you.

Prioritize what you believe is aligned with your current goals, mission, and values for a more intentional and fulfilling life.

Start Taking Back Control of Your Life

If you have read this far and you want to start prioritizing your life, let me help you!

*** I have attached a template for this exercise for you to copy and use for yourself. Click here to access the template.***

The goal is to continue reflecting on whether these tasks still energize you or take energy away.

If you’re noticing that there are still too many tasks, don’t be afraid to start removing tasks from your schedule in the opposite order you added them to your calendar. This removes the least important tasks from your schedule.

Don’t forget, it’s never going to be perfect, and as you continue to live your days, you’ll always need to re-analyze, readjust, and continue to eliminate. 🎛

Prioritizing your own goals and values is a crucial first step towards living a more intentional life.

If you wanted to prioritize one thing today, what would it be?