We are pulled in a million different directions. Everything from work meetings (that probably could’ve been an email), networking lunches, dropping your kids off at school, deciding what to make for dinner, and making it to your fitness class on time. Whew!
The start of the new year is a great time to review what’s important to you. And, find time to do what you enjoy doing more! And, it can even help your wallet.
If the thought of re-organizing your priorities overwhelms you, we get it! That’s why we’ve compiled a list of ways you can start de-prioritizing today.
What Is De-Prioritizing?
Simply (or not so simply) de-prioritizing is designating or treating something as being more important than others in an effort to realign your current priorities with your future goals.
For example, it’s like prioritizing spending time with your loved ones by making it home on time for family pizza night rather than staying late at work.
“This Doesn’t Sound Like Something I Can Do”
Now, we know that hustle culture tells you that you need to be busy all of the time or you’re not doing enough. Or, even that not doing enough makes you a bad person.
Let’s set the record straight – hustle culture is untrue and unsustainable. In addition, the tasks you do or don’t accomplish have zero effect on who you are.
When it comes to de-prioritizing, you might actually already be doing it! Well, sort of.
Your required tasks or “to-do”s are likely to change throughout the day, even if it’s just the order of when you should complete them. Let’s take a look at an example.
In this scenario, your “to-do” list includes:
- Dropping off your child at school
- Picking up your prescriptions
- Grocery shop for school lunch supplies
- Pre-make lunches for the next day of school
How would you normally prioritize these tasks? You may take into account the following things:
- The time it takes to accomplish each task
- The urgency of each task
- The dependencies of each task
You can’t really pre-make school lunches before you grocery shop. Or, you don’t want to grocery shop before picking up your prescriptions because the pharmacy closes first.
So, while the order of your tasks can be fluid, they can’t be eliminated. You might even have to add more as your day progresses! But, why is this important?
Why You Should De-Prioritize
Too much stress can ultimately lead to burnout which is a mental or physical collapse caused by stress or overwork.
Unfortunately, burnout is far too common. In fact, 52% of working professionals reported being burnt out.
Are you prioritizing things effectively? If you continue to reorganize your priorities without eliminating any, it might feel like you have less stress or things on your plate, but it’s in fact the opposite.
The Quest to Reach Work-Life Balance
Ah yes, the elusive work-life balance! You likely know what it is, and want it, but don’t know how to get it.
This is where de-prioritizing comes in.
By taking certain things off of your physical and mental plate you can improve your focus, increase your productivity, and give yourself more feelings of achievement and fulfillment.
And, it can be good for your finances.
What It Has To Do With Your Finances
Stress can negatively impact your finances. It’s psychologically proven! And it can potentially lead you down a slippery slope toward the following:
- Making reactive financial decisions
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- Stress can trigger impulsive financial decisions. For example, selling shares of stock because their value is down, or feeling pressured to spend more money on a vehicle or home.
- Decreasing your self-esteem
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- Speak kindly to yourself! Stress can lead us to commit harmful self-talk that can decrease our confidence. This can cause poor job performance and eventually lost opportunities.
- Triggering further mental health issues
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- We all respond to stress differently, which means for some it can trigger panic, anxiety, depression, PTSD, eating disorders, addiction, and more. These all have the potential to impact or impair your ability to function at your best in terms of work and your finances.
- Abandon your financial plan
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- Stress can leave you feeling overwhelmed with not much mental or physical energy to follow your financial plan. It can be hard to prioritize your savings plan when your body is in fight or flight mode. If your plan is forgotten for too long it can lead to costly financial consequences.
If these sound like things you want to avoid, we can help you start to sort through your priorities.
6 Steps To Help You De-Prioritize
Get yourself started on the right track towards de-prioritizing and less stress by following these steps.
Step 1: Align Your Priorities To Your Goals
In an earlier example we mentioned heading home from work on time so you can make it to family dinner rather than staying late to finish up paperwork.
If one of your goals is to spend more time with your family, taking small steps toward doing so is a great way to start.
We realize that it’s not realistic to say that you’re never going to stay late at work. But, by filling your cup with something you enjoy, your family, you have more to “pour” from later.
So, while staying late isn’t always avoidable, when you need to do it you’ll have more mental and physical resources to accomplish what you need to.
Step 2: Don’t Be Afraid To Say “No”
Humans are natural people pleasers. So, when your coworker asks you to join a special committee for a new project, it can be hard to say no.
It could stem from not wanting to let down the person who asked you, it may be a project that you’re interested in, or you don’t want people to count you out on future opportunities.
No matter the reason, know that it’s okay to say no. We’re all human and understand that we all need to say no once in a while. It may seem like a huge deal to you, but it’s not worth sacrificing your mental health and time doing what truly means the most to you.
Step 3: Put Yourself First & Set Your Boundaries Ahead Of Time
Along the same vein, know that it’s not selfish to put yourself first. If your doctors or therapy appointments fall during the work day, it’s not selfish to take that time to better yourself. Even better is setting those boundaries ahead of time. If you know that you have a standing appointment on Wednesdays at 2:00 pm, communicate that to those that need to know (your supervisor, immediate coworkers, family members, etc.). That way, you won’t have to deal with the stress of an unexpected expectation of you during that time (like a meeting, office hours, etc.).
Step 4: Automate or Outsource
Hey, it’s 2023 after all! Even things as small as paying your internet bill take up your mental space. If you have the option, put that bill on autopay so you don’t have to worry about it!
Or, if you have an extremely busy schedule that you just can’t manage, maybe you need to outsource help to someone else. Consider a sort of personal assistant or management software that can help you keep track of everything.
This way you won’t wake up in the middle of the night wondering if you scheduled that dentist appointment.
Step 5: Use the Eisenhower Matrix
This method is designed to help you prioritize your tasks by both their urgency and importance.
It looks like this:
Image from Owaves | Prioritize Tasks with the Eisenhower Matrix and Owaves
This matrix serves as a way for you to visualize your priorities. For example:
- Green: picking your child up from soccer practice
- Blue: Scheduling a time for a contractor to get an estimate of your kitchen renovation
- Orange: Asking your significant other to grocery shop rather than doing it yourself
- Red: scrolling on social media during work hours.
Step 6: Use a Project Management System
We often have a CRM that we use to keep track of our work tasks but we may not be using a project management system that we use with personal tasks or to help us accomplish “life admin.”
I started using ToDoist a year ago and LOVE it. It integrates with Google calendar and helps me not just see tasks I want to complete but also helps me prioritize them.
We now use it at Gen Y Planning to help stay on top of our clients’ financial tasks and email them when they have important tasks to complete by a certain date.
Step 76: Set Good Habits & Make Them A Part Of Your Routine
It’s important to not put unrealistic expectations on yourself. So, you likely won’t be able to de-prioritize your entire life overnight.
Take small steps towards making your life more manageable and less stressful. Then, do your best to be consistent and make it part of your routine. And, don’t forget to reward yourself when you make progress! Before you know it, you’ll be a master of prioritizing.
If you’re ready to de-prioritize your life and create a financial plan that suits you and your family please set up a time to meet with us. We look forward to working with you and guiding you as you work to de-prioritize.
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