How to Prioritize

Sometimes it can start to seem like the whole world is crashing down. Work and school start piling up, house chores and responsibilities, commitments to friends and family--there just aren't enough hours in some days. Learning to prioritize effectively can help you become a more efficient worker, saving time, energy, and stress. Learn to organize your tasks into distinct categories and levels of difficult, and start approaching them like a pro. See Step 1 for more information.

Making Your To-Do List
Choose a time-frame for your list.
Write down everything you need to do.
Categorize the things you need to do.
Put the list in order.
Keep the list visible.

Ranking Your Projects
Rank the importance of each task.
Rank the urgency of each task.
Rank the effort required for each task.
Compare all the tasks and order the list.

Attacking the List
Do one thing at a time and see it through to completion.
Decide what to delegate and what to let slide.
Alternate the variety of tasks on your list.
Start with the least desirable or the hardest tasks.
Let importance trump urgency in some cases.
Cross tasks off the list as you complete them.

At the end, congratulations! As you move through the list, take a glad moment to cross each thing off, deleting it from the file, or aggressively cutting it off the paper with a rusty pocketknife and ceremonially setting the scrap on fire. Take a minute to reward yourself for each little accomplishment. You're doing it!

(from wikihow.com, summarized as needed)