Get Your Priorities Straight:
Why I Don’t Believe in Bright Red Exclamation Points,
Stars or Other Icons for Tasks
If you have Outlook, you may be familiar with the ‘priority’ field in the Task section. When you create a task you can choose from 3 options indicating how important this task is:
! = high priority Nothing for a “regular task” = low priority
“So what’s wrong with that?” you may ask.
Nothing… if you’ve defined them well. But I have yet to find anybody who is able to use these icons with any great success. I believe there’s a much better way.
These little icons, plus those I’ve seen in other programs (like stars, ugh!) can be confusing if not solidly defined and based on a logical approach and used for all tasks.
Take for instance Stephen Covey’s method with the A, B, and C.
A = urgent B = important C = nice
Covey has defined them. Good. But I add another layer of definition to these that helps when you are trying to determine the best use of your limited time every day. I use 1, 2 and 3 with my clients, so I’ll define them here.
1 = money. Well, it actually means two things in my book: it generates revenue or it is so completely urgent that if you don’t do it, there will be serious consequences. Mainly though, 1 is either making money or saving money. It grows your business. Even if you’re not in a sales position, you could be supporting a process that is related to sales or business growth. When you use a “1,” it’s the very best use of your time because it will help bring in business.
2 = important. Yes, I know, nothing exciting about that. It’s an important task that must be built in to one of your busy days and cannot be overlooked. It’s not a revenue-generator, but it is a task that supports your business and keeps the wheels turning. In time, if ignored, it can
become a “1,” but only because of the grave consequences of not doing it. Not because it suddenly became a money-maker.
3 = It would be nice if… meaning ‘it would be nice if I could get to this task today,’ but it’s optional. It doesn’t qualify for a 1 or a 2 position. “3”s are the first to get reprioritized when your day gets crazy. And they can also become a “1” or a “2” if its importance grows and has been ignored OR it can fall off your list because it could become “It would be nice if I didn’t do this at all because it’s never really going to be a good use of my time compared to everything else on my plate.” Then it gets disqualified completely!
These definitions are only useful if you assign a 1, 2 or 3 to all tasks. Then your electronic task list is in order by the “do” date and then these priorities. This is part of my issue with the exclamation points, stars and down arrows, etc… Not all tasks are defined and sorted, but they should be so that you can continually and effectively compare and contrast all that you need to do, have to do, want to do and dream of doing all in one place.
