Prioritizing Without Overwhelm: A Proven System to Tackle Your To-Do List with Confidence

Nothing is as daunting as a bottomless to-do list when trying to prioritize tasks effectively. When I help people tackle this in a 21-day productivity sprint, the first question is often, 'But where do I start?

Here's where you'll avoid the temptation of going for the easy and quick wins and instead tackle what truly matters.

Here's where I start: by trying to get as much off my list as possible using the Eisenhower Matrix:

1️⃣ Urgent and Important – Do these immediately.

2️⃣ Not Urgent but Important – Schedule these (these move into the next round).

3️⃣ Urgent but Not Important – Delegate these.

4️⃣ Neither Urgent nor Important – Eliminate these.

After delegating and eliminating, you can then move on to my 4-part scoring system:

For each task, rate it 1–5 in these categories:

(1 = doesn't align, 5 = completely aligns)

🏆 Vision Alignment – Does this align with your long-term goals?

⏳ Urgency – Is there a deadline or a consequence for delay?

😰 Psychic Weight – Is this task weighing on your mind and energy?

🧊 ICE Score – What’s the impact-to-effort ratio?

Add up the scores, then tackle tasks in descending order.

If you encounter ties, here’s how to break them:

✋ Resistance – Often, the tasks we resist the most are the ones that move the needle. The magic you are looking for is often in the work you are avoiding.

🥫 Can-Kicking – Have you been putting this off forever? Get it done and clear the mental clutter. If you've been putting this off, you're Psychic Weight score is likely also high.

P.S. I've been thinking a lot about delegation and elimination. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. For example, I love to design and write. I also love being with my kids (sometimes). From an economic standpoint, both are a horrible use of my time (as valued in money).

But it can't always be about money. They keep printing money, but nobody is printing time. Spend it as much as you can on doing what you love, even if it means sacrificing getting everything "crossed off your list."