We are being pulled in a million different directions. Work meetings (maybe they were emails), lunch networking, driving the kids to and from school, deciding what to make for dinner, attending fitness classes on time, everything. Wow!
The start of a new year is a great time to reassess what is important to you. And find time to do what you love more! And it helps your wallet too.
If the thought of reorganizing your priorities overwhelms you, we get it!
What does lower priority mean?
To simply (or not so simply) deprioritize is to designate or treat something as more important than others in order to realign current priorities with future goals.
For example, it’s like prioritizing time spent with loved ones by getting home in time for family pizza night instead of staying up late at work.
“This doesn’t seem like something I can do.”
A culture of hustle and bustle tells us that we either need to be busy all the time or we are not doing enough. Or you still become a bad person if you don’t do enough.
Hustle culture is not true and not sustainable. Moreover, whether you do the task or not does not affect who you are in any way.
As for deprioritizing, you might actually already be doing it. I agree.
Required tasks or “to dos” can change throughout the day, even just the order in which they must be completed. Let’s look at an example.
In this scenario, the “to do” list includes:
- sending your child to school
- receipt of prescription
- grocery store for school supplies
- Making lunch for the day after school
How do you typically prioritize these tasks? You can consider the following:
- how long it takes to complete each task
- Urgency of each task
- Dependencies of each task
School lunches cannot be pre-prepared before going to the grocery store. Or the pharmacy closes first, so you don’t want to go to the grocery store before picking up your prescription.
Therefore, the order of tasks is fluid, but they cannot be deleted. You may need to add more as the day progresses! But why is this important?
Why you should deprioritize
Excessive stress ultimately burnout A mental or physical breakdown caused by stress or overwork.
Unfortunately, burnout is all too common. In fact, 52% of working professionals report Burn out.
Are you prioritizing things effectively? If you keep reorganizing instead of removing your priorities, you may feel less stressed and burdened, but the opposite is true.
A quest to achieve work-life balance
Ah, the elusive work-life balance! You probably know what it is and want it, but don’t know how to get it.
Now let’s lower the priority.
By removing certain things from your physical and mental plate, you will be more focused, more productive, and feel more accomplished and fulfilled.
And it may be good for your finances.
what it has to do with your finances
Stress can negatively affect your finances. Psychologically Proven! And you might go down a slippery slope like this:
- make passive financial decisions
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- Stress can trigger impulsive financial decisions. For example, you may sell a stock because it has fallen in value, or feel pressured to spend more on your car or house.
- low self-esteem
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- Talk to yourself kindly! Stress can lead to harmful self-talk that can lower our self-confidence. This can lead to poor job performance and ultimately lost opportunities.
- cause further mental health problems
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- Everyone reacts differently to stress. In other words, stress can cause panic, anxiety, depression, PTSD, eating disorders, and addiction in some people. All of these things can affect or impair your ability to function at your best at work and financially.
- abandon financial plan
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- Stress can leave you feeling overwhelmed, with less mental or physical energy to follow your financial plan. can be difficult. If your plans are forgotten for too long, it can lead to costly financial consequences.
If you feel like you want to avoid these, we can help you organize your priorities.
6 steps to deprioritize
Follow these steps to get you on the right track to de-prioritizing and reducing stress.
Step 1: Align your priorities with your goals
In the previous example, we mentioned getting home from work on time. That way, you can make it to the family dinner in time instead of staying late to finish paperwork.
If one of your goals is to spend more time with your family, we recommend taking small steps to get there.
I know that it is not realistic to say that I will never work overtime. But you can “pour” more later on by filling your cup with something you enjoy, your family.
Therefore, being late is not always avoidable, but when you have to be late, you have more mental and physical resources to accomplish what you need to do.
Step 2: Don’t be afraid to say “no”
Humans naturally make people happy. So if a colleague asks you to join the ad hoc committee for a new project, it can be difficult to say no.
It can stem from not wanting to disappoint the person who asked you, is a project you’re interested in, or not wanting people to count you on future opportunities.
Whatever the reason, know that it’s okay to say no. We are all human and we understand that sometimes we need to say no. It’s not worth the sacrifice of your mental health and time.
Step 3: Put yourself first and set boundaries in advance
Likewise, know that putting yourself first is not selfish. If a doctor’s or treatment appointment falls during working hours, it’s not selfish to spend that time improving yourself. Even better, set those boundaries up front. If you know you have a full-time appointment at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, let anyone who needs to know about it (boss, direct colleague, family member, etc.) know. Then you won’t have to deal with the stress of unexpected expectations at that time (meetings, office hours, etc.).
Step 4: Automate or Outsource
Come on, it’s 2023 after all! Even the little things of paying your internet bill take up mental space. If you have the option, auto-pay that bill and don’t worry!
Or, if you have a very busy schedule that you can’t manage, you may need to outsource help to others. Consider a sort of personal assistant or management software that helps you keep track of everything.
This way, you won’t wake up in the middle of the night wondering if you’ve made an appointment with the dentist.
Step 5: Use the Eisenhower Matrix
This method is designed to help you prioritize tasks by both urgency and importance.
It will be as follows.
image from OWave | Prioritize Tasks with the Eisenhower Matrix and Owaves
This matrix is useful as a way of visualizing your priorities. for example:
- green: pick up the kids from soccer practice
- blue: Schedule a time for contractors to obtain quotes. kitchen renovation
- orange: Ask someone you care about to go to the grocery store instead of yourself
- red: scrolling through social media during work hours.
Step 6: Use a Project Management System
Often you have a CRM that you use to keep track of your work tasks, but you don’t use it for your personal tasks or have a project management system that helps you achieve “life control”. I have.
started using To Doist A year ago and I love it. It’s integrated with Google Calendar, which not only lets you see the tasks you want to get done, but also helps you prioritize them.
We currently use this at Gen Y Planning to keep track of our clients’ financial tasks and email them when there are important tasks that need to be completed by a certain date.
Step 76: Build good habits and make them part of your routine
It’s important not to set unrealistic expectations for yourself. So you probably won’t be able to deprioritize your entire life overnight.
Take small steps to make your life more manageable and less stressful. Then do your best to be consistent and make it part of your routine.And don’t forget to reward yourself when you make progress! Before you know it, you’ll be a master of prioritization.
If you’re ready to deprioritize your life and create a financial plan that works for you and your family set a time to meet with usWe look forward to working with you and guiding you to lower your priorities.
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