Prioritizing Priorities

What do you do if your brain is fried? Overwhelmed with all the comings and goings you got going on in your life? Right now I’ve got a crazy load of things going on. Working on finishing my basement, which makes the house a mess. Now, I have to deal with recent flooding. Then I have to add cleaning the house to my list. Kid’s homework and activities. There’s marketing and ordering of books stuff I’ve got to do. Adding people to email lists. Social networking on social networks. Analytics. Along, with personal writing goals. And, I’m working on helping others with their own publishing projects. And reading. 

Is anyone any different really?

Those gurus out there speak of prioritizing and discipline, and yes… They’re right. When crazy things are coming at you, you do need to slow down and focus only on one task… Or one form of fun. But, how do we make such prioritization? Ultimately, all the things we need to and want to accomplish fit into three categories.


The things we NEED to do at the given moment. The first list of tasks that dominate our priorities are the tasks we need accomplish. We really have no choice, or we will endure consequences. Unfortunately, for many of us, these are the tasks we least want to work on. Paying taxes/bills. Going to work. Taking care of your business. Doing homework. Feeding your kids. Cleaning the house… at least cleaning it enough. (Various people have various ideas as to how clean is clean enough. Just ask my wife.) 

Regardless of these tasks, we don’t have much wiggle room in prioritizing such duties. In fact, there are only two such strategies for prioritizing them. My wife’s strategy, work slowly on them day by day, until they’re accomplished. Or my strategy, hold them off until I have no other choice than to be forced to knock them out. 

The things we WANT to do at the given moment. I am not one to say we need to force ourselves to be strict military-like disciplinarians. Truth is, there are tons of things we want to do. A lot of forms of fun and entertainment surround us. And frankly, they make life worth living. And perhaps, we need to give them a place of priority in our lives. Watching tv. Going to the movies. Playing games. These are important to us. As the saying goes, “Work to play.” 

But, clearly what we want to do, can distract us from the things we need to do. “Hmmm. My taxes are due in two days… Well, that means I can watch YouTube videos for one more day.” Or, they can prevent us from doing the things we need to do as well as we should. 

The things we NEED to do in order to do the things we truly WANT to do. Wait. Isn’t that what everyone does? Sort of, but I’m speaking of bigger goals and harder tasks. A gob of us have these grandiose goals. These deep desires. Those purpose evoking paths that if we just think we can accomplish, we’ll be on top of the world. We’ll be doing what we’re meant to do. Tough things about such goals is that there are steps we need to take in order to reach them. For instance, If I want to lose weight and look like Arnold Schwarzenegger from his youth (even though I’m not that far off), I need to go to the gym. Gobs of people want to look fit and trim, but hardly any one wants to work out.

The trouble with these tasks is that we so often place them on the very far back burner. Why is that? Primarily, these tasks aren’t a guarantee that we’ll get what we want. These wants and desires don’t come easy. Concerning simpler wants, we all can watch a movie at anytime. Short term wants, take little effort to accomplish. Get a job… Any sort of job. Doesn’t matter if it is fulfilling or purposeful. And you can rent a Redbox DVD. Or, pay for a Netflix subscription.

In addition, those things we NEED to do, really aren’t that hard. They’re just not that fun. And don’t evoke purpose. But, once we’ve knocked those need to do tasks off our list, we’ve objectively accomplished something. My default in life when I feel overwhelmed with tasks is simply to do the dishes… Sure, my wife would like that I did them even more... But, once they’re done, I know I’ve done something.

Concerning those steps we must take to reach grander wants, many of those steps fail. If fact, the gurus say you’ve got to fail a lot. Who wants to fail? And, we don’t even know what steps we need to take. Often, the ones we do take lead nowhere. In the midst of a stack of things we need to and want to accomplish, it is very difficult to make those tasks a priority. Want to be an engineer? You’ve got to go to school. Build gadgets… Often doodads that will not work. Doohickeys that no one will want. That requires time and resources. Who’s going to pay for that?

In my writing journey, I’ve got great goals. I’ve spent hours writing bablings, that I know aren’t good. But, I have to do the steps in order to get better. And, then I’ve also spent hours writing masterpieces (sure, why not) that I believe are good, but then I have do a gob of marketing work just to get a few eyeballs to look at it. Folks have their own set of priorities. Why would they make my work a priority? Reading itself is a great task. To quote Stephen King, “If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” Reading. One more crazy step I must take if I am to achieve what I want. In fact, for anyone one to be great at any pursuit, reading is almost always required. (From the ideological opposite of Stephen King, check out what Dave Ramsey says about the importance of reading.)

In the midst of all the things we need to do and want to do, how does one make reading a priority?

At times I look at all the steps I need to take just to have the possibility of accomplishing what I want to accomplish, and say, “What if I put all my time and effort into this for naught?” Then, I sigh, and just do what I want at any given moment. Well...right now I need to get back to watching YouTube videos.