Life is BUSY, no matter who you are and what you do. There always seems to be a hundred things on the to-do list. How do you prioritize tasks to reach your business goals while staying grounded in other areas? As a wife, mom to four boys, and business owner, I have learned how to prioritize your life to make the most impact while still enjoying every moment! Here are my top tips for how to prioritize what’s most important in your business.

How to Prioritize: Your Goals

I always recommend starting with the big picture. If you are wondering how to decide what to prioritize, start by answering the question: WHAT DO YOU WANT? Then, set some doable, measurable, exact goals that depend on YOOU for your business and life. Here’s what this doesn’t look like: “I want to serve more teachers this year than last year” or “I want to be better with my time management this month,” or even, “I want to gain 2,000 Instagram followers this quarter.” The first two goals aren’t measurable. The third goal doesn’t entirely depend on you, and it may or may not be doable!

Instead, here are some goals that you can prioritize in a snap: “I want to post on Instagram 5x and spend a total of 2.5 hours on the app each week,” “I will spend an hour a week on content creation so that I can have my new product line complete by December 31,” “I will post two blog posts each month based on the needs the teachers in my niche have.” All of those goals are doable, measurable, exact, and depend on YOU to see them through! If this overwhelms you, pick ONE goal to start with. What will move the needle most in your business? Prioritize that goal first!

How to Prioritize: Business Projects

Okay, so now you have your goal(s) set, let’s put those business projects into your monthly calendar, so you have a plan of action to keep the main thing the main thing! I love using Google calendar because it spans across all of my devices, but I also use a paper planner just in case. If you have specific projects due at particular times (ex: products), plug those into your calendar first, and then schedule out times to work in those specific projects.

If you have ongoing projects and goals, such as posting on Instagram or blog posts, you can write those down repeatedly to stay on task and committed. While your monthly calendar is in front of you, go ahead and mark those special dates, events, and responsibilities. I do most of our laundry on Sundays, so every Sunday gets a note for laundry. I post Instagram posts five times a week, and those are always on my calendar, so I don’t forget!

How to Prioritize: To-Do List

Picture this: you grab a cup of your favorite beverage, your planner, and your favorite pens, and you carve out 20 minutes of your weekend to set your intentions for the week ahead. Does this always happen? Nope. But, when it does, I feel 100x better about my priorities! Simple strategies like how to prioritize quickly at the start of the week will take away the stress of how to prioritize what is essential every day because you’ve already made those decisions with a clear mind.

The game-changer in this situation is my one thing tracker. I read The One Thing by Gary Keller (one of my favorite books on how to prioritize), and it quite literally changed my life. Instead of making a gigantic to-do list for the week, choose ONE THING to do each day in each category of your life. This is one of my best tips on how to prioritize because, when you plan this out, everything else takes a back seat. You go from searching, “how to prioritize when you are overwhelmed” in Google to setting and following through with your plan and getting things done!

How to Stay Focused on Your Priorities

Oh man, if I had a dollar for every “shiny object” I followed in my business, well, it would be A LOT! Shiny objects are anything that take you away from reaching your primary goals, even though they may also move the needle forward—for example, spending 10 hours a week creating new images for your blog when your goal is to make your course content? SHINY OBJECT! Learning TikTok dances to market your business on social media when your goal is to serve your email list consistently? SHINY OBJECT!

When those shiny objects vie for your attention, take a quick peek back at your goals and your one thing tracker. If it’s not your one thing for the day, set it aside and put your blinders on. You know one of my favorite how to prioritize quotes is from Stephen Covey: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing!”

If you’re thinking, “This is great, Kayse, but I just don’t know what projects I should be prioritizing!” I’ve got you! This CEO Teacher journey is full of unknowns and ups and downs, even for someone who knows how to prioritize. Sometimes you just wish someone would hand you a map and say, START HERE! Well, I’m doing that today! Download A Teacher’s Map of Online Business Secrets, work through it, and make a plan to prioritize your goals and move your business forward!