Managing priorities

Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in a workweek to complete all the tasks on your plate. The moment after you finish one project, two or three more tasks appear on that ever-growing to-do pile.

With so many responsibilities, how can you start each day with the proper direction and leave the office each evening with a sense of satisfaction? Believe it or not, you might already have some tools on your computer that can help you better manage your work priorities.

Let Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro®, show you how to direct your time and effort toward work that really matters.

Use the Tasks feature in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 to help you manage your daily priorities. You can use this feature to create detailed reminders for each of your upcoming tasks. Give your tasks start dates and due dates, and assign each task a priority. You can also drag tasks onto your Outlook Calendar so that they'll always stay fresh in your mind.

Use the following resources to help manage your priorities and get more work accomplished.

• What should I work on first? (Article)
  Determine how to approach each workday productively.
• Time/value matrix example (Template)
  Use this table to prioritize your daily tasks by value and urgency.
• Manage your tasks easily with Outlook (Demo)
  See how to create and assign tasks in Outlook.
• Create a task (Article)
  Learn how to create tasks from your prioritized to-do list.
• Set the due date and start date for a task (Article)
  Assign start and due dates for your tasks in Outlook.
• Schedule time in Calendar to complete a task (Article)
  Drag tasks onto your Outlook Calendar.