# A practical exercise to get in control of your priorities
- Do you feel like you are juggling too many balls in the air?
- Are you on target with your goals?
- How do you prioritize?
![[pexels-pixabay-416816.jpg|400]]
Prioritizing is hard. I sometimes find myself with far too many goals competing for my attention. Some of these are professional targets such as completing certain projects, finishing a report on a topic, progressing in my career, developing myself and getting ready for the next opportunity. Then I also have personal goals like working down my reading backlog, organizing a special holiday, achieving sports targets that require serious preparation, goals related to my hobbies or things that I need to get done at home such as fixing something in the house or finding a craftsman who will.
I find this simple exercise very helpful. It helps me rank my priorities and to develop strategies to best achieve success.
To get the most out of this article, I recommend you follow along. Grab 8 post-its and an empty sheet of paper (A4 or letter size is a good choice).
![[image(15).png|60]]
## Step 1
![[image(14).png]]
Take the 8 post-its and write a letter in the top left corner of each, A through H. We’ll use these letters as reference.
![[image(15).png|60]]
## Step 2
![[image(13).png]]
Write 8 of your goals on the post-its, one on each.
![[image(15).png|60]]
## Step 3
![[image(12).png]]
Write a number between 0 and 7 in the top right corner of each goal, representing your progress with them. Write O if you have not yet started, 7 if you have almost achieved the goal.
![[image(15).png|60]]
## Step 4
Take goals E&F and place a tally mark on the one that is more important. Continue doing the same for the rest of your goals in the following order:
| | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| C&G | F&H | B&C | B&H |
| G&H | D&H | F&G | B&E |
| C&H | A&B | A&H | D&E |
| A&C | B&G | D&F | A&E |
| A&D | C&E | C&D | A&F |
| E&H | B&F | E&G | C&F |
| B&D | A&G | D&G | |
![[image(11).png]]
![[image(15).png|60]]
## Step 5
Count the tally marks on each note and write the result using [Roman numerals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals#:~:text=Roman%20numerals%20are%20a%20numeral,letters%20from%20the%20Latin%20alphabet.) in the bottom right corner of each goal.
![[image(10).png]]
1:I, 2:II, 3:III, 4:IV, 5:V, 6:VI, 7:VII
![[image(15).png|60]]
## Step 6
Sketch a ranking matrix based on the example below. Then place your goals on the matrix according to the numbers in the top right and bottom right corner of your post-its.
![[image(9).png]]
![[image(8).png]]
![[image(7).png]]
![[image(6).png]]
![[image(15).png|60]]
## Step 7
**Reflect on your goals!**
Here are some questions and ideas to get you started:
- Can you drop any of your Non-Critical and Non-Energizing goals? If yes, get rid of them to improve your focus.
- Create a positive momentum by building success on success. Consider completing your Energizing Goals first.
- If you must do the Non-Energizing goals, schedule time to deal with them.
- Start your days with your Real Goals.
- Put this sheet away, for review in a year’s time.
![[image(5).png]]
# Check out my related posts
- [[The 5-25 Rule]]