In the comments on my latest YouTube video, someone asked:

This person is already doing a great job, having all of their to-dos captured to Apple Reminders and organized into lists.

But it’s a good question:

How do you actually decide what to work on first?

Is there a formula?

I’ll get back to that in a second.

But first, you’ll notice that this person feels they can never “prioritize perfectly”. They probably don’t literally expect to be able to do this (or anything) perfectly, but it’s worth dwelling on this point for a second.

There isn’t a perfect way to work through the items on your to-do list. How would you even be able to tell which task order would be optimal?

A better approach is “good enough”.

We use our judgment to identify some tasks that are clearly important, or clearly urgent, and that need doing. We’ll get all of these tasks done soon. And within that vague period—“soon”—it doesn’t really matter all that much in which exact order we complete these tasks.

There is a balance, of course.

If you always procrastinate on your most vital tasks, you’re not prioritizing well.

But if you’re generally doing the most important and most urgent things first, you’re doing well enough.

Back to the original question: how do you prioritize your daily to-do list?

When you’re planning your day, you essentially look at three things:

1. What’s truly urgent?
2. What’s truly important?
3. What else would be good to get done?

And then you put some mix of tasks that meet those criteria on your to-do list for the day.

Some days, you’ll mostly (or even only) address urgent stuff.

Other days, nothing will be truly urgent, and you will get super meaningful work done. The work that makes a difference in the long term.

And there will also be days when you’re just taking care of admin and closing loops.

Now here’s the key:

If you’re having trouble figuring out what’s important, go up one level.

If you think:

• “Everything is important”, or
• “I need to do all of this”, or
• “I really just don’t know what I should do first”

Then you need to take a step back.

You need to clarify your goals first.

The real prioritization happens when you’re taking a bird’s eye view:

• What are my goals?
• What are my action steps?
• Which goals do I want to work on now?
• Which goals will I not work on for now?

That last one is tough. It’s hard to say, “not now” to something you’d ideally like to do.

But that’s where the rubber meets the road.

That’s where you give yourself permission to focus on one thing, or a few things, that matter to you more than others.

So if your day-to-day prioritization is hard, step back. Go up a level. Reflect. Clarify what you really want.

There is no better way.

There is no magic formula.

And as awesome as it is, AI is not going to solve this for you, either.

Clarifying and prioritizing your goals may feel like a lot of work. It may feel like you “don’t have time” for this.

But if you don’t do it, you will—like the person asking this question—always feel behind.

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This Productivity System Changed My Life

After a little hiatus, I published a new YouTube video. I share the three key principles of the productivity system that allows me to manage my personal life and run a six-figure business while traveling the world. Enjoy!