Post 5: The Art of Prioritization: Deciding What Matters Now

In previous posts, I introduced the concept of executive function and explored how separating planning from execution (the "Zoom Out, Zoom In Dance") can dramatically improve productivity. I then discussed how to break down complex projects into manageable tasks through the process of Task Analysis which is akin to slicing a large loaf of bread so that you can eat it one slice at a time. This brings us to a crucial challenge many of my clients face: once you've broken down your projects into tasks, how do you decide which ones to tackle first?

In this post, I'll explore multiple frameworks that can help guide your prioritization decisions. It's important to keep in mind that the prioritization ideas offered here won't all be a perfect fit for everyone. Your careful consideration of your own regulatory patterns will ultimately help you determine which prioritization approaches will best fit your needs.

When You Have More Tasks Than Time

Let me share a common scenario I witness in my clinical practice:

Marcus stares at his freshly created task list following a productive planning session. He's successfully broken down his quarterly marketing campaign into 27 distinct tasks. But now, faced with this comprehensive list and only two weeks to complete everything, he feels a rising sense of overwhelm. His shoulders tense, his breathing becomes shallow, and he notices an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. Which task should he start with? Which ones could wait if necessary? Unable to decide, he finds himself scrolling through emails instead. After a while he realizes he has avoided doing what he most needs to be doing at this time which is figuring out in what order he should approach his tasks, and has instead found himself working on a much less important task. Recognizing that he has avoided making the difficult choices required to prioritize his tasks causes him to feel even more overwhelmed than he did before.

This scenario highlights a critical insight: breaking down projects is only half the battle. Without effective prioritization strategies, even the most well-defined set of tasks can leave us physically and emotionally paralyzed. To help you understand what drives prioritization paralysis and how to overcome it, I'll first introduce a powerful metaphor that helps you visualize the embodied nature of skilled prioritization, and then will explore the brain architecture that explains why prioritization challenges affect us in both mental and physical ways.

The Chef's Kitchen: A Metaphor for Prioritization

When you think of prioritization it's useful to imagine you are a skilled chef in a busy restaurant kitchen. A skilled chef doesn't simply cook dishes in the order they're received. Instead, they engage in a complex dance of timing and importance as they select what tasks to do when:

• Some dishes must be started first because they take longest to cook (time-sensitive tasks)
• Certain ingredients need to be prepped before they can be used in multiple dishes (dependency-based tasks)
• High-value specials require priority attention (high-impact tasks)
• The chef must consider which cooking stations are open and available and which are at capacity (resource constraints)
• And all of this needs to happen while maintaining the overall quality of the dining experience (values alignment)

When you watch an expert chef at work it is easy to see how embodied and physical their knowledge is. They don't just intellectually know what to prioritize; they feel the correctness of their choices in their bodies. They develop a physical intuition for timing, for when dishes or ingredients need attention, for how different tasks must be sequenced. Their expertise lives not just in their minds but also in their hands, in their timing, and in their efficient ability to physically navigate their kitchen space.

It takes years of work for an expert chef to develop their skills. Similarly, it will take you a while to become good at prioritization. What begins with you consciously and deliberately applying one or more of these prioritization frameworks will eventually transform into you intuitively knowing what you need to do when, with you too developing an embodied sense of how best to approach the prioritization of your work.

Just as a chef can't prepare every dish simultaneously, you also can't tackle every task at once. Prioritization is the art of deciding what needs to happen and when it needs to happen, based on a clear understanding of what matters most. It involves being attuned to both the physical and emotional states that support the different types of work you need to accomplish.

The Neuroscience of Prioritization

At its heart, prioritization is a specialized form of decision-making. Neuroscience has given us fascinating insights into how this process works in our brains.

When you're faced with multiple competing tasks, your prefrontal cortex steps up to evaluate your options. Meanwhile, your brain's Salience Network acts like a skilled traffic controller, helping determine which factors deserve the most attention in your decision. At the same time, your limbic system (particularly the amygdala and insula) contributes emotional information that influences what feels most important.

There is a fascinating simultaneous interplay between what is happening in your brain and what is happening in your body. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio has written about what he called the "somatic marker hypothesis." The word "somatic" refers to one's body. Damasio's research revealed that our decisions are guided by subtle emotional responses that show up as physical sensations in your body such as those butterflies in your stomach, that tension in your chest, and that feeling of lightness. These "somatic marker" body sensations give us rapid, gut-level assessments of our options before our conscious reasoning even kicks in.

This explains why effective prioritization involves both analytical thinking and bodily awareness. When a client tells me, "I just feel in my gut that this project should come first," they're not being irrational—they're tapping into valuable embodied information that their brain-body system has been fine-tuning for millennia.

The neural circuitry involved in prioritization includes:

1. The orbitofrontal cortex, which blends emotion into your decision-making process
2. The anterior cingulate cortex, which helps spot conflicts between different options
3. The insula, which translates your body's signals into conscious awareness
4. The Salience Network, which works as your brain's master filter, determining what most deserves attention moment by moment

I'll refer you to Wikipedia if you're interested in learning more about any of these brain structures.

This complex dance involving both your mind and your body shows us why prioritization feels different than pure logical reasoning does. Prioritization is truly a whole-brain, whole-body process.

The Fundamental Prioritization Frameworks

Let's explore four fundamental frameworks that can help you prioritize more effectively. Think of these as different techniques in your chef's repertoire, each useful in specific situations. As we explore each framework, I'll highlight how your physical and emotional states might interact with the prioritization process.

1. The Urgency-Importance Matrix (Eisenhower Matrix)

The Eisenhower Matrix approach to prioritization has you sort your tasks into one of four quadrants based on two dimensions: urgency and importance.

• Quadrant 1: Urgent and Important - These are your kitchen fires and immediate customer needs. Do these tasks first.
• Quadrant 2: Important but Not Urgent - This is where meaningful work happens. Schedule these deliberately, especially when you notice your energy and clarity are high.
• Quadrant 3: Urgent but Not Important - These tasks feel pressing but don't actually move the needle on what matters. Be cautious about letting these hijack your time.
• Quadrant 4: Neither Urgent nor Important - Minimize or eliminate these time-wasters.

The power of this framework lies in its simplicity. By separating urgency from importance, you gain clarity about what truly deserves your attention. Many people discover they've been spending enormous amounts of time on Quadrant 3 tasks (urgent but unimportant), missing the opportunity to work on Quadrant 2 (important but not urgent) where real progress happens.

2. Dependency-Based Prioritization

Some tasks must be completed before others can begin. A skilled chef knows you can't plate a dish until it's cooked, and you can't cook it before the oven is preheated.

With dependency-based prioritization, you identify which tasks block other tasks and prioritize the blockers. This approach is particularly powerful when you have limited resources or a team working on interconnected components.

To apply this framework:

1. Identify which tasks have dependencies (tasks that can't start until other tasks are complete)
2. Find the tasks with no dependencies—these are your starting points
3. Work on these tasks first, knowing that completing them will unlock other work
4. As you complete dependent tasks, new tasks become available to start

This framework prevents false starts and wasted effort. There's nothing more frustrating than starting a task only to discover you needed something from a different task first.

3. Value-Effort Analysis

Not all tasks are created equal. Some produce significant results with modest effort, while others require enormous energy for minimal return. Value-Effort Analysis helps you recognize these differences.

To apply this framework, rate each task on two dimensions:

• Value: How much does completing this task move you toward your goals? (High/Low)
• Effort: How much time, energy, and resources does this task require? (High/Low)

Then prioritize in this order:

1. High Value, Low Effort - Do these first. They create momentum and quick wins.
2. High Value, High Effort - Schedule these during your peak energy periods or break them into smaller pieces.
3. Low Value, Low Effort - Do these if time permits, but don't let them overshadow more important work.
4. Low Value, High Effort - Minimize, delegate, or eliminate these when possible.

This framework helps you be strategic about your time. It acknowledges that not all work is equally important and that sometimes the most important thing is to make strategic choices about what not to do.

4. Personal Factors Framework

Beyond logic, your physical and emotional state dramatically affects which tasks you can effectively complete. This framework acknowledges your humanity.

Personal factors to consider include:

• Energy levels: Complex tasks require peak energy; routine tasks can be done when energy dips
• Emotional state: Some work requires emotional regulation skills; other work is emotionally neutral
• Context requirements: Some tasks need specific tools, locations, or mental modes; others are more flexible
• Interest and engagement: Using moderately engaging tasks can help you recover between difficult work
• Physical needs: Your body needs movement, rest, hydration, food—work with these needs rather than against them

A task that would be impossible during low-energy periods becomes straightforward when you're energized. Work that would feel overwhelming when you're emotionally activated becomes manageable when you're regulated.

The Integrated Prioritization Approach

While each framework offers valuable insights, the most powerful approach combines them. Here's how to integrate multiple frameworks into a comprehensive prioritization strategy:

1. Start with the Eisenhower Matrix
   • Identify any true Quadrant 1 (urgent and important) tasks that must be done immediately
   • Separate these from important tasks (Quadrant 2) and urgent-but-not-important tasks (Quadrant 3)
2. Apply dependency analysis
   • Within your Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 tasks, identify dependencies
   • Prioritize the blocking tasks—completing these will unlock other work
   • This prevents false starts and wasted effort
3. Use Value-Effort analysis
   • For tasks that could be done in parallel (no dependency conflicts)
   • Prioritize higher value, lower effort tasks earlier when possible
   • This builds momentum and creates early victories
4. Consider your personal factors as final adjustments
   • Energy patterns: Match complex tasks to high-energy periods
   • Interest levels: Use engaging tasks to build momentum or recover from difficult work
   • Context requirements: Group tasks that share similar tools, locations, or mental modes
   • Physical needs: Schedule tasks that accommodate your body's needs (movement, rest, etc.)
5. Create environmental supports for your plan
   • Set up your physical workspace to support the first planned task
   • Remove potential distractions before starting
   • Prepare any physical tools or resources you'll need
   • Create visual cues or reminders of your prioritized sequence

This more advanced approach integrates classical prioritization technique with embodied awareness, creating a comprehensive system that addresses both the logical structure of your work and the physiological conditions needed to support your optimal performance.

Note that you may need or want to return to re-prioritize your task list as you move through your day. For instance, you might take a fresh look at your prioritization after completing a key task that unlocks other downstream tasks that were previously blocked. You might also want to re-prioritize after meeting a deadline, at natural transition points in your day, or when you notice significant shifts in your physical or emotional state, for instance, when you notice that you've become too tired and fatigued to keep working on more complex tasks.

Making These Approaches Work for You

Whichever framework you choose, remember that the goal is progress, not perfection. A "good enough" prioritization approach that you consistently use will outperform a theoretically perfect system that overwhelms you.

As you practice, you'll naturally begin to internalize these decision processes. What starts as a deliberate algorithm you consciously decide to follow will gradually become more intuitive and second-nature for you, like a chef who no longer needs to consciously think about which dish to prepare first but instead just does it correctly.

After teaching these methods to many clients, I've learned that the development of prioritization intuition is a trainable skill. Your journey from conscious and deliberate application of formal prioritization frameworks to embodied and intuitive knowing will follow a natural progression that can be systematically developed.

This intuition isn't simply cognitive but instead involves your whole being including your thoughtful cognitive knowing and your physical and intuitive knowing. Experienced chefs develop bodily intuition about the timing and prioritization of their many tasks. They feel in their bodies when a dish needs attention, when to start the next component, when to check for doneness. In the same way, as you practice prioritization skills, you may begin to notice physical sensations that accompany your good and bad prioritization decisions. Perhaps you'll experience a sense of calm certainty in your chest when you feel confident you've chosen the right task, or a pit in your stomach when you realize you're avoiding an important but challenging task. Such felt bodily signals often point out what will work and what will not work much faster than your conscious mind could figure it out.

The key insight here is that prioritization is not a one-time event but an ongoing process. As you complete tasks, as new information emerges, and as your energy levels change throughout the day, your priorities will naturally shift. The most effective prioritizers are those who recognize this fluidity and regularly reassess what matters most right now.

The Limitations of Task-Level Prioritization

It's important to acknowledge that the frameworks discussed so far work best when prioritizing tasks within a single project or focus area. The reality for most of us is far more complex: we're juggling multiple projects across different life domains, each with their own priorities and values.

This is where task-level prioritization reaches its limits. When faced with competing priorities across different aspects of your life, including work projects, family needs, personal health, community commitments, etc., you need higher-level prioritization frameworks to help guide your decisions.

In future posts, I'll address these more complex prioritization challenges. First, I'll introduce the Daily Aiming Ritual, which provides a structured process to apply these prioritization decisions in your daily life. Later, I'll explore how your deeper values can guide prioritization across different life domains, and how to implement these approaches through practical systems like backlogs and daily to-do lists.

The prioritization techniques we've covered today create a foundation for these more advanced implementations. By mastering the basic frameworks first, you'll be better prepared to handle the complexity of multiple projects spanning different parts of your life.

Moving Forward: Implementing Prioritization Today

For now, I encourage you to experiment with using the prioritization frameworks we've discussed. Pay close attention to your physical and emotional states as you do so in order to benefit from the guidance these states can provide.

1. Before prioritizing, take a moment to check in with your body—notice your breathing, posture, and any areas of tension
2. Choose one active project with multiple tasks
3. Apply at least two different prioritization frameworks from this post
4. Notice how each different framework encourages you to highlight different priorities
5. Pay attention to any physical sensations or emotional responses that arise as you consider each framework
6. Select the framework that seems most appropriate for this particular project, using both your logical analysis and your embodied responses as guides
7. Create your prioritized task list and begin with the top items

Like any complex skill, developing your prioritization practices requires you both to understand the decision frameworks and to apply them consistently. As you work through your prioritized tasks, pay attention not just to your productivity but also to how your body responds to working on different tasks at different times of day. Notice which types of work energize you and which deplete you. Observe how your emotional state affects your capacity to take on different types of tasks. These observations will provide valuable insights for your future prioritization decisions.

Remember that prioritization, like cooking, is both science and art. The frameworks provide structure, but your personal judgment, informed by your unique goals, constraints, values, physical patterns, and emotional rhythms should always be essential ingredients in your recipe. As you practice prioritization, you'll develop your own style and preferences, your unique "chef's intuition" for deciding what matters most right now. The goal isn't perfect prioritization but rather thoughtful, intentional choices that keep you moving toward what matters most, in a way that works with your natural rhythms rather than against them.

The prioritization approaches I've shared represent foundational practices. These can be adapted and deepened as you develop a more comprehensive productivity system that truly honors your unique physical and emotional patterns.

Continuing Your Journey

Back to Post 4: Task Analysis — the prerequisite to prioritization; you must know your tasks before you can prioritize them.

Forward to Post 6: The Daily Aiming Ritual — how to put these prioritization decisions into structured daily practice that bridges intention and action.

Forward to Series II: How emotions and embodied awareness directly impact executive function capacity and how parts work transforms your relationship with productivity struggles.