4 Odd Yet Effective Ways The Smartest People Prioritize Their Days

1. 4 ODD YET EFFECTIVE WAYS THE
SMARTEST PEOPLE PRIORITIZE
THEIR DAYS
YOU'VE TRIED EVERYTHING TO ORGANIZE YOUR PRIORITIES BETTER, AND STILL END UP
SCATTERED. TRY THESE OUTSIDE-THE-BOX IDEAS FOR SORTING YOUR DAY.
BY VIVIAN GIANG
The hardest part is getting started.
When there’s a long list that needs tackling every day, the hardest part is
tackling what needs to be done first. You may feel intimidated to start your
next big project or pull your colleague aside for an awkward, but much-needed
confrontation.
And prioritizing isn’t getting any easier. In his book Present Shock, Douglas
Rushkoff blames this modern-day condition on our “continuous, always-on
‘now’“ world which has made us lose our sense of direction.
Successful people know that planning, organizing, and protecting your time
is no easy feat, but if you don’t have your priorities straight, who will? Below
are four unconventional methods that keep the brightest minds focus on
exactly what they need to:
1. THINK ABOUT DEATH
Reflecting on death might not be what comes to mind when you want to
tackle your to-do list, but studies find it helps you re-prioritize your goals and
values. Buddhist teachings encourage reflections of death with the idea that
a better understanding of mortality also helps us better understand our
purpose in life.
Steve Jobs believed thinking about death helped
him make better decisions. In his famous 2005
commencement speech at Stanford University,
Jobs said that he looked in the mirror every
morning and asked himself, “If today were the last
day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to
"IF TODAY WERE
THE LAST DAY
OF MY LIFE,
WOULD I WANT
TO DO WHAT I
AM ABOUT TO
DO TODAY?"
do today?” If the answer was “no” for too many consecutive days, Jobs knew
something needed to change. He told the graduates that year:

2. “Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever
encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost
everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or
failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is
truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I
know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are
already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
In 2012, artist Candy Chang gave a TED talk titled “Before I die, I want to…”
where she explains how easy it is to get caught up in the day-to-day and
thinking about death is a way to bring busy people back to clarity.
2. WEAR THE SAME CLOTHES EVERY DAY
When you downsize your closet, you also cut down on the number of choices
you have to make every day, which means you can now focus on what’s
most important: your priorities.
Plenty of CEOs adopt this “uniform” strategy. Steve Jobs wore the same
jeans and black turtleneck day in and day out. Oracle’s Larry Ellison also
preferred black turtlenecks, but often wore them underneath fashionable
slim jackets. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos sticks to khakis, blue shirts, and
sometimes a dark jacket. A spokesperson for the company once said:
“[Bezos would] rather spend his time figuring out how to cut prices for
customers than figuring out what to wear each day.”
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Leo Widrich, cofounder of
Buffer, despises these daily
decisions so much, he wears
the same clothes every day
(he owns five white T-shirts
and two pairs of pants) and
also eats the same dinner six
times a week. Widrich
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believes that the fewer decisions he has to make, the better his decisions
will be.
In an interview with Michael Lewis for Vanity Fair, President Barack Obama
agrees with Widrich’s way of life: "I don’t want to make decisions about what
I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.
You need to focus your decision-making energy. You can’t be going through
the day distracted by trivia.”
3. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN URGENT AND IMPORTANT

3. Like Rushkoff, Dwight D. Eisenhower knew how easy it is to lose track of
goals if the importance of tasks are confusing. To differentiate between
“urgent” and “important” tasks, the 34th President of the United States broke
the two into very basic distinctions:
An urgent task requires immediate attention and is often performed in
a hurried, reactive mode. An example of an urgent task is calming the
baby or attending a meeting.
An important task contributes to long-term values and goals and is
performed in a responsive mode that leads to new opportunities. An
example of an important task is planning the company’s next
relationship-building mixer. Important tasks can sometimes also be
urgent, but often are not.
Author Stephen Covey popularized Eisenhower’s Decision Principle in his
book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
4. MAKE AN “AVOID AT ALL COST” LIST
Warren Buffett knows that you can’t be amazing if you focus on everything
you’re interested in at once. This is exactly why, to keep his
focus laser sharp, Buffett advises making a list of the top 25 things you want
to accomplish in the next few years. From this list, pick the top five that are
most important to you.
Now you have two lists and Buffett suggests you “avoid at all cost” the longer
one. According to the business magnate, adding your second most
important items into your focus only prevents big things from happening.
Whether it’s reflecting on mortality or getting rid of your wardrobe, the
smartest people know that there’s never more time in the day--only better
ways to manage your time through prioritizing. And if you’ve tried it all and
still get sidetracked from what’s really important, it’s time to learn the most
simple, yet effective way you can prioritize: Start saying no.