Juggling multiple deadlines often feels like being pulled in ten directions at once. The pressure can be overwhelminJuggling multiple deadlines often feels like being pulled in ten directions at once. The pressure can be overwhelming without a clear structure, affecting both productivity and work quality. The good news is that you can regain control.
This guide shares practical project management strategies to help you structure your workflow and manage your time with confidence.
7 strategies to prioritise your workload (even if every task seems to matter)
It is easy to feel drowned when every email and project seems urgent. The key isn’t to work longer hours, but to work smarter. These seven strategies, used by successful project coordinators and team leaders, will help you build a clear plan for the organisation of your workload.
1. Start with clear goals and outcomes
Before you can prioritise a to-do list, you must know what you are trying to achieve. What does “done” look like for your main project? By setting clear goals, you create a filter for every task that comes your way and avoid getting stuck trying to make tasks perfect.
For every new request, ask yourself, “Does this activity move me closer to my most important goal?” If the answer is no, it should be a low priority. This goal alignment is the most important first step. It ensures your daily efforts are not just “busy work,” but meaningful actions that lead to a specific, successful outcome.
2. Use the Eisenhower matrix
This is one of the most effective task prioritisation techniques. It is a simple tool that helps you sort objectives into four distinct categories. You do this by asking two simple questions about each task: “Is it urgent?” and “Is it important?”
- Quadrant 1: Urgent and Important (Do): These are your critical tasks that need to be done now. This includes crises, problems, or very tight deadlines.
- Quadrant 2: Important but not urgent (Schedule): This is the most crucial quadrant for long-term success. This includes planning, relationship building, and strategic work. You must schedule time for these tasks to prevent them from becoming urgent problems later.
- Quadrant 3: Urgent but not important (Delegate): These are interruptions. They feel pressing but do not contribute to your main goals, such as some emails or meeting requests. If you can, delegate these tasks to someone else.
- Quadrant 4: Neither urgent nor important (Delete): These are distractions and time-wasters. Avoid them.
3. Break projects into manageable tasks
A large project like “Launch New Website” is too big to prioritise. It’s an outcome, not a task. A project lead will break this down into smaller, manageable steps like “Draft homepage copy,” “Design logo,” and “Test contact form.” This creates a clear to-do list and makes it easy to see what needs to happen first. It also makes the project feel less daunting. This method provides clear milestone tracking, as you can see your progress as you complete each small piece.
4. Estimate effort and time accurately
It is hard to plan your day if you think a task will take 30 minutes when it really takes three hours. Be realistic about how long things take. You can use productivity tools to track your time for a week to understand how your time is actually spent. This is crucial because it helps you build an achievable schedule. If you have only two hours of free time, you know you can only tackle tasks that fit within that window. This prevents you from over-committing and feeling stressed at the end of the day.
5. Review and reprioritise regularly
Your plan is not set in stone. A new, urgent task might appear, or a project’s goals might change. A good task manager reviews their priority list regularly. This could be a quick check every morning or a more detailed review at the end of each week. This regular review allows you to adapt to new information. It keeps your plan relevant and ensures you are always working on the most important thing right now, not just what was on your list on Monday.
6. Balance workload across the team
If you are a team leader, prioritisation is not just for you; it’s for the whole team. You must understand who has the capacity to take on new work and who is overloaded. Using shared productivity tools or simply having regular, open check-ins can help you see this clearly. Good workload balancing prevents employee burnout, improves team morale, and ensures that tasks are given to the person with the right skills and availability. This leads to a much more efficient and sustainable workflow for everyone.
7. Reflect and improve
The final step is to look back on your work. At the end of a project or a busy week, ask what went well and what did not. Did you estimate your time correctly? Did you get stuck on unimportant tasks? This is not about criticism; it is about learning. By reflecting on your process, you can refine your prioritisation frameworks and improve with each new project. This habit of continuous improvement is what separates a good task manager from a great one.
Which common mistakes should you avoid when prioritising workload?
Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do. Even with the best intentions, it is easy to fall into common traps that derail your progress. Being aware of these mistakes is the first step to avoiding them and keeping your workflow smooth and effective.
- Taking on too many priorities at once, leading to everything being half-finished and nothing being completed well.
- Focusing only on urgent tasks (like emails) rather than the important ones (like planning) that drive long-term success.
- Failing to communicate shifting priorities to your team causes confusion, wasted effort, and frustration.
- Neglecting regular reviews or updates to your plan means you end up working from an outdated list that does not reflect your current goals.
- Ignoring team workload and capacity when scheduling new tasks often leads to burnout, stress, and delays.
Conclusion
Mastering your workload like a project manager does not happen overnight. It is a skill built on structure, discipline, and the flexibility to adapt. Whether you are working independently or as part of a team, effective prioritisation is the key to reducing stress, enhancing your performance, and delivering consistent results. By applying a clear and organised approach – starting with your goals, sorting your tasks, and reviewing your progress – you can stay focused on what truly matters. This allows you to achieve better outcomes with greater confidence and control.
Find a workplace that helps you stay in control
Your environment plays a huge role in your focus. It is hard to stay in control in a chaotic or distracting space. At Gilmoora House, we provide a setting designed to inspire productivity and clear thinking. Our bright, high-tech rooms offer a calm, professional space to concentrate, while our in-house IT support and dedicated service team handle the details, so you don’t have to. Located in the heart of the vibrant Fitzrovia Quarter, our convenient amenities and modern environment give you the structure and support you need to work smarter, not harder.
FAQs
How often should I review my workload?
This depends on your role, but a good rule is to review it more often than you think. Many project managers do a quick review at the start of each day to set their top 1-3 priorities. They then conduct a more in-depth review at the end of each week to plan for the week ahead and adapt to any changes. If your work is very dynamic and changes quickly, you might need to check your priority list after every major task. The key is to be consistent and find a rhythm that works for you.
What is the best method for prioritising tasks?
There is no single “best” method; the best one is the one you will actually use consistently. The Eisenhower Matrix is excellent for sorting tasks by urgency and importance. Another popular method is “Eat the Frog,” where you tackle your biggest, most important task first thing in the morning. For simpler lists, some teams use the “MoSCoW” method (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have). The best approach is to try one of these prioritisation frameworks for a week. If it helps you feel more in control, stick with it. If it feels too complicated, try another.
How can I manage competing priorities when everything feels important?
This is a common yet challenging issue. When everything seems like the number one priority, the first step is to communicate. Talk to your team leader or stakeholders and ask for clarification. You can say, “I have both Project A and Project B on my desk, and both are urgent. To ensure I deliver high-quality work, could you help me understand which one is the top priority for the business right now?” This is not a sign of failure; it is a sign of good goal alignment. It brings clarity, manages expectations, and ensures you are applying your effort to what the business needs most.
