Needed at 10:00 today
Check the induction guide
New starters need the guide for their first session. A missing instruction could stop them taking part.
Greymatter Collective · At Work
Priorities
How Priorities works
- Use this when
- Several tasks are competing for your attention and you need to decide what should come first.
- You will
- Make an initial decision, receive more information, decide whether your priorities should change and then use the same thinking with your own work.
- You will leave with
- Two real priorities and clearer reasons for why they deserve your attention.
- Afterwards
- Use your plan and return later to review whether your priority decisions worked.
30–35 minutes · self-guided · save and return
1 of 6 · Understand
01 · Small idea
Choose what deserves attention now.
A request can sound urgent without needing to come first. Before deciding, ask what happens if it waits.
What you hear
“I need this urgently.”
What you check
“What changes if this waits?”
Your decision can change when new information appears.
2 of 6 · See it
02 · Example
Look beyond the urgent label.
It is 09:00. Two requests arrive. These are different tasks from the practice that follows.
Needed next week
“Urgent”: update the event poster
The poster is for next week. No one needs to use it this morning.
One reasonable decision
Check the guide first: people need it this morning. Confirm the poster’s deadline and agree when you will update it.
If the poster were needed for a campaign going live now, that new information could change your decision.
3 of 6 · Try it
03 · Practice · Choose first
Choose what should come first
Use only the information you have now. Choose which task you think should come first. Select your first three tasks in order.
There is no need to find a perfect answer. You will receive more information later and can change your decision.
You have selected 0 of 3.
A sentence or two is enough. What did you use to decide?
Choose three tasks and give a short reason to see the next part.
3 of 6 · Try it
03 · Practice · Get more information
Get more information
Priorities can change when you learn more about deadlines, consequences, dependencies or impact. Open all six items.
0 of 6 items explored.
Your initial choice may change or stay the same. Explain which information supports your choice.
Explore all six tasks and explain which detail matters to continue.
3 of 6 · Try it
03 · Practice · Decide again
Decide again
You now have more information. Set the order that makes the most sense to you now. Use the arrows to order all six tasks.
Use these planning assumptions
Start at 09:07. Your only fixed commitment is the project meeting, 11:00–11:30. Use the time estimates on the cards and keep each task in one block. If a task will not fit before the meeting, start it afterwards.
Real work is less predictable. For this exercise, these assumptions let you check whether your order fits the available time.
Use specific deadlines, consequences and time estimates. Say where you will fit the longer report.
What was happening here?
Prioritising is more than putting tasks in order. Good priority decisions depend on the information available at the time.
Deadlines matter, but so can consequences, dependencies, impact and what becomes harder if something is delayed.
Changing a priority because important new information appears can be good judgement.
A useful way to check your priorities
Use these questions to check the decision you have already made. The questions are not a formula and they do not make the decision for you.
ImpactWhat happens if this waits?
DeadlineWhen is it actually needed?
DependencyWho or what is waiting for this?
EffortHow much time and focus will it need?
Trade-offWhat will wait, and who needs to know?
Adjust the order above if needed, then review it again. Keeping a workable order is fine; explain your reasoning.
Review your current order and explain what you will change or keep.
3 of 6 · Try it
03 · Practice · A changed situation
Check a new request
For this part, use the situation below, whatever order you chose earlier. Interruptions have reduced your working time.
Where things stand at 10:20
- Survey figures: still need 15 minutes. Your colleague wants them at 10:30; the client deck goes out at 10:45.
- Onboarding numbers: still need 25 minutes. Your manager needs them by 11:30 to prepare for the 13:00 review.
- Project meeting: your update is ready. You must attend from 11:00 to 11:30.
- The other three tasks can wait until after the meeting.
10:20
Message from your manager
What would you do first? Choose an approach, then write the message you would actually send.
Use your own words. You will see guidance after your first attempt.
Choose an approach and write your first message to see the review guidance.
Check what your message makes possible
You have 40 minutes before the project meeting. The two unfinished tasks also need 40 minutes. Attending the full call leaves only 10 minutes for them before 11:00.
Your writing is not automatically scored. Use the checks below to review whether someone could act on your message.
One possible response · not the only answer
“I can finish the survey figures by 10:35 for the 10:45 deck. Could I join the call at 10:35? With our 11:00–11:30 project meeting, that would move the onboarding numbers to 11:55. Would that still give you enough preparation time for 13:00, or should I keep the 11:30 deadline and get the call notes from someone else?”
This proposes a later arrival and a deadline change; neither is agreed yet. Another workable response might arrange cover for the call. Choose an option that fits the actual need.
Improve your first attempt using the checks. If it already works, keep it and explain why below.
Write a final message and a short reflection to continue.
4 of 6 · Make it yours
04 · Personal application
Set your real priorities
Now use the same thinking with your own work. Enter two tasks that deserve your attention. You can add a third task to compare. Use general descriptions rather than confidential details.
You are building:
Your two priorities and the reasons behind them.
Your working order
Use the arrows to change the order. Check that the work fits your available time.
Why is your second task important, but not first? Explain what will wait and who needs to know. If you need a deadline or priority confirmed, say who you will ask.
Choose a specific moment for each, such as your next planning session and the end of that workday.
Use at least two tasks. Complete their details, your trade-off, when you will use the plan and the time check. “Unknown — ask…” is useful where you need more information.
04 · Personal application · Use your plan
Use your plan
Put these priorities into your real work. Protect the time or attention they need before allowing less important tasks to take over.
For example, block time, start the first task, communicate what will wait, delay or delegate a task, or clarify what another task depends on.
What you worked on
You made a priority decision with limited information, received new information and decided whether your priorities should change.
What you learned
Prioritising is not simply making a list.
A useful priority decision considers what matters now, what could happen if something is delayed, what other work depends on it and what information could change the decision.
Changing a priority after receiving important new information is not necessarily a mistake. It can show that you are responding to evidence.
Why this matters
Real work changes. New deadlines, dependencies and consequences appear. Strong prioritisation means being able to explain why something deserves attention now and knowing when that decision should change.
One question to remember
What information would make me change this priority?
Your next step
Use the two priorities you selected in your real work.
Pay attention to whether your decisions help you make progress on what matters most.
What to look for
- Did you make progress on the work you identified as most important?
- Did something else become more important?
- Did new information change your decision?
- Did you spend time on work that you had decided was less important?
5 of 6 · Explore · Optional
05 · Optional deeper reading
Take a closer look, if it helps.
You can explore the checks below or go straight to your review after using your plan.
Five checks for a changing workload
- Impact
- What happens if this waits? Consider the consequences for the work and the people involved.
- Deadline
- When is it actually needed? Ask for a specific time and what that time makes possible.
- Dependency
- Who or what is waiting for this? A small task may enable someone else’s next step.
- Effort
- What time and focus will it need? Check what fits alongside meetings and existing commitments.
- Trade-off
- What will wait, and who needs to know? Make the consequence visible and confirm any change to an agreement.
These checks help you explain a decision. They do not produce one fixed order for every situation. Return to them when a deadline, dependency or consequence changes.
06 · Review what happened
6 of 6 · Review
Review what happened
Return after you have used your priorities in real work. Use what happened to decide whether your original priority decisions still make sense.
What worked? What changed? What new information appeared? Would you make the same decision again? Use one concrete example.
Use the same decision process again with different tasks. Decide which task should come first, then check impact, deadline, dependency, effort and what will wait.
This section is complete. You can return to any stage.
Decide what you will do next
Use what happened to decide whether to keep your priorities, change them, protect your time differently or gather more information. Use the same decision process again when your work changes.