Move the Needle: Prioritizing Your Most Important Tasks

Action steps that make progress toward your goals

Moving the needle means doing something that gets you closer to your goals. Some days I do lots of little things that collectively “move the needle,” and other days there is just one big thing that is the focus for that day.

GOAL: MTN- start here

To determine what needs to be done each day, we can, either the night before or the morning of, make a list of all the things we can think of that need to be completed. Some call it a “brain dump,” which I find very fitting. A brain dump gets all the action items out of our heads and onto paper so that we can refer to them later to prioritize and plan our days.

If you want to move the needle each day closer to your goals, follow these steps and ask yourself these questions. (Then we get to pick our MIT)

After you have your brain dump

• Identify the tasks that will have the most effect on your goals,
• the tasks that will produce the most significant results,
• the most important to gain ground on your goals

Determine ROI

• Assign an ROI to each task

Other questions to ask yourself are:

Ø what is one thing I would regret not completing today?

Ø what tasks have a higher ROI?

Ø which goal is this task working on?

Steven Covey said,

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

When we systematically go through our “to-do” list and break it down this way, we are really trying to maximize the efficiency of what we can do with each day’s allotted amount of work time. Just as Steven Covey states, the key is to schedule the priorities. These quick lists allow me to do just that.

Look at your list so far, look at your goals, and determine which tasks will help which goal. Now we are going to figure out what our MITs for the day are. MITs mean "the most important tasks."

For me, an ideal day would have one (maybe two) main tasks that take about 3–4 Pomodoro timers. With this, I also like to get some smaller, supporting tasks done. Things that stand alone can be completed in one Pomodoro, or at most two cycles. I will make each day’s list contain five total things to focus on.

Some days I am a rock star and just get through everything and then some, but of course, there are days where tasks get carried over from the previous day. But overall, I find five things to be attainable daily MITs that will get you closer to achieving your goals.

More Tips on choosing MITs

• Often the most important tasks are things we have been putting off because we think they will be hard or take a long time. So, chances are the longer you have been thinking about a task, ask yourself if today you need to tackle it.
• A smaller task could be something that will free up even more time in your schedule to address other MITs another day. Choose tasks that matter.
• Omit things off the list completely that is just busy work and that doesn’t actually get you closer to one of your goals.
• Give yourself a deadline to complete each day’s tasks. After you choose them, think about how many Pomodoro timers you can allot for it, or simply give it a time limit of X. As Parkinson’s Law states, work expands to fill the time we set aside for it. It is a must to set aside a specific and reasonable amount of time is necessary. If you don’t finish a task in that time, set another timer for an amount of time you believe you need, or note the time you need and schedule it in your calendar for later, or another day.

If you have more time in your workday and you have finished the 5 MITs, there are two ways to look at it:

1. You were productive, and you’re done! The workday is over!

2. If you still have time in your normal workday and energy to keep killing it, then go for it! But still, leave at the end of your normal day.

If you work from home, separating work time from home time can be hard, but if we put work away, it really helps us to be able to focus on family time.

Final Thought

Having a daily goal to MTN and prioritizing your MITs using the ROI task rubric will make sure you are making progress on your goals. But remember that every choice you make has a cost, but also an opportunity. By focusing your time and energy on the tasks that will bring the greatest return on investment, you can move the needle and achieve your goals. With discipline, determination, and a willingness to let go of tasks that don’t serve you, you can create a more productive and fulfilling life, one task at a time. So start prioritizing today and see how far you can go!

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