Do Fewer Things, But Better

Prioritization is not just ranking, it’s also about deciding what to exclude

Fall is slowly rolling in and the perfect time to get focused on the things that really matters in life: becoming better. Photo: Per Håkansson.

If you want to own your own time, attention, and energy then you need to learn how to prioritize ruthlessly. Prioritization is an art often misunderstood. When I Google the meaning I get the following explanation from Oxford Languages:

pri·or·i·ti·za·tion /ˌprīˌôrədəˈzāSH(ə)n,ˌprīˌôrəˌtīˈzāSH(ə)n/

noun: prioritization; plural noun: prioritizations; noun: prioritisation; plural noun: prioritisations

The action or process of deciding the relative importance or urgency of a thing or things.

But this just tells half the story. Prioritization is not just ranking things relative to each other. It’s also deciding what not to do to make that list smaller.

Imagine ten items that you have added to a todo list. Your first step, as per the definition above, is to rank them in relative importance.

First rank, then reduce

But there is also a second step and that is to reduce the list down to the top 2-3 things that really needs to get done to achieve your objectives.

This step is often forgotten but it’s key to free up your time, attention, and energy for what really matters – in the long run.