When you have a lot on your plate, it can be difficult to prioritize which tasks or projects you should work on first, let alone find time to make sure they all get done. But I think taking some time to ask questions and think about your tasks and why you’re doing them can help ensure that you make time to get the most pressing things out of the way while also having time for other things that are important to you. With everything we have to do, it can often feel like we never have time to explore new knowledge, new opportunities, and new activities – or even the hobbies and events that we are already committed to. But by thinking about, prioritizing, and moving tasks around, you can begin to identify the most important things for you and your goals which, when focused on, can give you more time to pursue the things that are important in your life (or are just plain fun).

Here are some ideas that can help you determine what is essential and what you might postpone or drop:

• Does the task need to be done right now?
• Is this task suitable for your skill level?
• Is this task something only you can do, or is it something that you could ask someone else to do?
• Could someone do this task better, faster, or more cheaply than you could? Would it be worth paying someone else to do the task to free up your time?
• If you called the shots, what tasks would you drop right now?
• Do you have any tasks or projects that are stalled, waiting on feedback, or have something going on outside of your control – or will have those qualities shortly? Can you put them on hold for now?
• What’s the worst that could happen if you decided to delay this task for a week? For a month? For-Ev-Er? After that time, will the task still be there? Will it still be valuable enough to go back to? Will there be consequences for ignoring or attempting to delay it?
• What tasks are sucking the life out of you while only producing uncertain, unconvincing, or downright bad results?
• Are you working on this task as a way to avoid your important (yet strangely uncomfortable) grown-up work? Do you work on it because you really, really need to or because it makes you feel productive without actually accomplishing much?
• If you suddenly lost 95% of the time you thought you had to finish your work (DON’T PANIC!), what tasks would you make a mad dash to move along?
• When finally finished, which task or project will allow you to complete your other projects more easily?
• On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about these projects? Are there any you’re like, “Bleh” about? Are there any you’re like, “Cha, that’s totally rad, dude!” (or similar vernacular from your decade of choice) about?
• Which task will make you happiest or bring you the most joy?
• What task can you not stop thinking about?
• Which tasks or projects best align with your charming personality, your unshakable values, and your luminary vision?
• What task will you most regret not completing or attempting to complete?

Asking questions like these and taking time to think about the tasks ahead, rather than doing random tasks because you feel like you need to or to feel busy, can help to clear time in your schedule, declutter your mind, and help you to save time, energy, and money by allowing you to remove things that just aren’t important. By eliminating tasks that might seem important but really aren’t, you can better control your schedule and focus on what truly matters to you.