The art of prioritising

The art of prioritising

14th January 2025

[Source: The Probe December 2024]

I think we’re all a bit guilty of doing the things we prefer and putting off the less exciting jobs. It’s human nature that we gravitate towards the items on our lists that we like, are instantly rewarding or the most interesting. 

When prioritising challenges your status quo

Prioritising can often go head-to-head with routine. If you usually do something in a certain way, at a specific time, and this clashes with something that is genuinely more important, we can find it hard to adapt. Your inner voice cries out that of course you can’t present in the city centre on Monday morning as that’s when you always do your admin, planning and go to the gym. It’s hard to reframe your priorities when you know what you should do but you prefer your usual options. Your routine provides a familiar framework and it has become your routine because it works for you. Breaking away from this might feel uncomfortable.  

Prioritising needs an extra gear 

Prioritising is hard, it can go against our natural inclinations, particularly when we’re tired or distracted. If you are putting off doing something arduous you’ll need some reserves of energy to adopt the can-do mindset to get on with it. And it is often just a case of getting on with it and it’s rarely as difficult, boring or time-consuming as you expected! 

Prioritise in sprints

You can set yourself time limits on any task you don’t want to start. Set aside 30 minutes to start pulling together your accounts’ paperwork (or whatever it is that you don’t like the look of) and, quite quickly, the chore will reduce both in size and your perception of it. I know this from personal experience! 

Recruit support or delegate

If you have an action-resistant mindset towards something – whether it’s a long and time-intensive Powerpoint presentation or an uncomfortable team disciplinary – ask for help. Enlist a professional colleague who can work alongside you in a supportive way or as a direct piece of delegation. Sometimes just getting through a task in the company of someone else means you are holding yourself accountable to show up and tick the ‘done’ box! It can also be more enjoyable to share some work where you can. As dentists we are lucky to have people around us in all sorts of roles who can help.

Understand the resistance

If you come across something that you regularly side-line in favour of other pursuits it might be worth taking the time to work out why. Once you know why, you could develop that line of thought and explore whether it really is as awful as you imagine and, if it is, what can you do about it?  Using some of the suggested methods might help (approach when feeling fresh and energised, do it in short bursts or get some help) but is it something you can actually get rid of permanently? Are there people in your team who might be able to help or who are better qualified to manage it? Once you have looked at the things you don’t want to tackle from all angles you’ll be in a better position next time it crops up. 

Face it and reward

One way of moving through your day is to promise yourself a more preferred option after you’ve achieved the niggly one. Remember being told you can have pudding when you’ve eaten your dinner? We’re all kids at heart! 

A strategic approach

There are a whole host of matrices we can employ to plot the priority order of our lives. In all honesty I don’t know if any of us have the time or inclination to work through everything using an analysis method or complicated spreadsheet. I believe we do know what needs to be tackled next and it’s up to us to follow our instincts. However if you are dealing with a complicated, longer term project such as buying/selling a practice or studying, a priority grid could work well. Having detailed daily and weekly plans works for me – alongside less detailed monthly and annual lists. 

Ultimately we have busy, demanding lives with lots of calls on our time and attention. Priorities emerge, sometimes when we haven’t planned for them, but trusting your gut and knowing what is important can often be envisaged by the end result. What would happen if you don’t prioritise this looming thing? And how much better will you feel when you do!

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