10 simple Ways to Prioritize your To-Do Lists

What can you start doing today to make your life happier and more fulfilling?

To sustain happiness in life, we must focus our attention on the right things, in the right ways.  Every growing human being has resource constraints: limited time and energy.  It is critical that we spend our resources effectively.

Here are 10 ways to prioritize your life and your to-do lists for increased happiness and fulfillment:

1. One thing at a time, with full presence.

In other words, make the thing you have chosen to do the number one priority while you’re doing it.  Focus with your full attention.  See the value in where you are, while you’re there.  Enjoy what’s happening, while it’s happening.

In the end, you will come to realize that the best days are the days when you don’t need anything extreme or special to happen to make you smile.  You simply appreciate the moments and feel gratitude, seeking nothing else, nothing more.  That is what true happiness is all about.

2. Family and close friends are at the top.

Nurture your important relationships in such a way that when you tell the people you care about that you care about them, you’re simply reinforcing what they already know based on how you have prioritized them into your life.

Give them your full attention.  Let them see their own beauty in your eyes.  Let them find their own voice through your listening ears.  Help them discover their own greatness in your presence. Make the people you love a top priority, always.

3. Focus on importance, not urgency.

Truthfully, the most important thing in life is knowing what the most important things in life are, and prioritizing them accordingly.  Sadly, most of us spend too much time on urgent things and not enough time on important things.

So do yourself a favor and implement these three action steps every time you’re building or sorting your to-do list: Think about the difference between what is urgent and what is important, review all the obligations on your list and then do what’s important first. Sometimes everything on your list will look important, which might be true to an extent.  But as you practice prioritizing, you will get better and better at it.

4. Keep your efforts aligned with your purpose.

Getting anything worthwhile done is a matter of connecting with why you have chosen to do this thing in the first place.

Don’t allow others to confuse you.  Don’t let them convince your heart what is right for you.  Your heart already knows.  Listen to it.  Don’t let anyone else dilute the power of your inner voice.  You’ve got to stand up for something specific or you will achieve nothing worthwhile in actual fact. Within you there is a formidable and undeniable sense of purpose.  Happiness comes from making a solid and persistent connection to that purpose.

5. Play to your strengths and delegate when it makes sense.

When it comes to tackling big projects, you can try to do everything yourself, or you can reach out and find the right people to help you. Choosing the latter will raise your consciousness and effectiveness.

Choosing the right perspective is so important; you CAN see life’s challenges as opportunities.  When an unexpected obstacle is suddenly standing in your way, don’t get overwhelmed.  Take a breather and regroup.  Someone else nearby knows how to get around it.  Find and engage them. Every unexpected obstacle in life is a lesson on teamwork in disguise, solvable with the right team of people.

6. Socialize and share with peers.

Regardless of what you are trying to accomplish, it’s always easier if you have a group of people who understand what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what challenges you are facing. Staying in touch with these people and sharing ideas with them will accelerate your effectiveness and happiness.  If you’re feeling disconnected, open up to your peers and initiate a conversation.

7. Give what you can, as you seek what you desire.

In many ways, life is a circle, what you put in to it comes back around.  When you make a positive impact in the world, the world will have a positive impact on you. You won’t always get back exactly what you wanted or expected, but when you give what you can you almost always receive what you need.

8. Leave the past behind as you plan ahead.

Let old problems remain where they belong, in the past.  No matter how many times you revisit the past, there’s nothing new to see.  Don’t let what once happened get in the way of what is happening.  Just because you have made mistakes doesn’t mean your mistakes get to make you. If something important didn’t work yesterday, figure out what changes can be made today. Tame your inner critic; let go and move on productively. You must make a conscious effort to do this, it won’t happen automatically.

9. Commit to self-respect, regardless of the issue at hand.

Remember, the way you treat yourself sets the standard for others, and the world at large, to follow.  Above everyone else, YOU deserve YOUR respect.  So make sure your decisions, behaviors and actions reflect your self-respect as you carry out your plans.

10. Leave room to breathe.

Things don’t always go as planned.  Good things can’t always be planned.  Be flexible and open to life’s twists and turns.

Organize, but don’t agonize.  Keep your space and time ordered, but your schedule underbooked.  Create a foundation with a soft place to land, a wide margin of error, and room to think and breathe… Freeing yourself from an overbooked schedule lets you experience more of life’s good surprises, and also provides you with flexibility when the unforeseen disrupts your foresight.