The Type A+ Podcast Episode 22 - Productivity Month: Prioritize with The ABCDE Rule
Episode Description:
Over-prepared overachievers, unite! In this week's episode, Beth lays out the ABCDE rule, which helps you focus on your main goal and prioritize every item on your to-do list. Bonus: Beth is sharing a new term that made her feel oh so *seen.*
These episodes are great, quick listen when you need the motivation to get it done, and by it...we mean that thing you've been avoiding and putting off for months.
Links mentioned in the episode:
Podcast:
The Type A Plus Podcast Instagram
Host:
Beth Lawrence & Company Instagram
Beth will be back each week, delivering bite-sized tips (15-minute episodes or less) on how to optimize your life and work.
Episode Transcript can be found below:
It's Week 2 of Productivity Month, and today we're talking about the ABCDE rule or the art of prioritizing. In doing my research, I identified the problem that this method purportedly solves, which is that to-do lists do not inherently have any categorization of priorities.
Being a Type A+ person, I give every single assignment or client project my all, and sometimes that can be to my detriment, because my to-do list is not balanced. I'll know which items are deadline-based, of course, but there is much more that goes in to prioritization and time management.
During my research for this episode, I read an article on Teodesk.com that talks about the art of "Productive Procrastination" and damn, do I feel seen. The article defines productive procrastination as the act of being busy while still procrastinating on your most important tasks.
This definitely resonates with me, especially thinking about certain periods during the pandemic when I could not, for the life of me, motivate myself to work ON my business. I loved doing my client work but all of the business administration stuff felt so taxing and challenging to begin.
The ABCDE method was developed by Brian Tracy, who is a Canadian-American motivational speaker and author. Essentially, what it comes down to is that you categorize your tasks depending on their priority.
A Tasks are the HIGHEST priority tasks for the day.
B Tasks are MEDIUM priority tasks for the day
C is assigned to the LOWEST priority tasks
D is a fun one - DELEGATE to someone else
E is my personal favorite - ELIMINATE tasks that don't matter
A tasks, high priority tasks, are the tasks that will move the needle the most toward your goal. There should be no more than 3 of this type on your list, ideally (and they should be further prioritized A1, A2, A3 etc)
B tasks, it wouldn't hurt to do those tasks (like organizing a Google Drive), but nothing catastrophic will happen if you don't. These items are, obviously, lower in priority than the A tasks and should not be touched until the A tasks are completed.
Then C tasks, assign any items that don't contribute toward your goal(s) for the day. They could be work and non-work related (though please always put time for yourself in the day). For example, sometimes I try to sneak doing the dishes into a work-from-home day, and this list can allow me to say, hey that can wait, and it's really just distracting you from your end goals and helping you avoid tackling those hard things.
Delegate those D tasks, my friends! These are the tasks that you know someone else would be great at, and would help you free up time to focus on the A tasks. For me, during the pandemic, that was my accounting and bookkeeping. I knew that those tasks are absolutely not in my wheelhouse and should be left to a professional.
E, these are items that you're telling yourself you have to do or should do, but have no relation to the goals you set for yourself. For me, during the pandemic streamlining my social media was important to me. I eliminated certain platforms altogether and tested the impact, and was able to make smarter choices in the future.
I have been implementing this and it's so helpful, especially on days that feel busy. It also goes back to what Brooke Forry was saying on our Balance Bound Planner episode, just looking at everything that you need to do, all laid out, can really help. The prioritization piece is key this week.
If you tried the 1/3/5 method, I'd love to hear from you and hear how it went! Connect with me on LinkedIn or answer the poll question if you're listening on Spotify. I'll be back next week on The Type A+ Podcast.