How to Put Your Tasks in Order

Sometimes it can be hard to decide where to start when you have multiple tasks you have to work on. When you have 2 or more tasks at hand, it is a good idea to put them in order. Putting your tasks in order can have several benefits if you put them in the right order. But how to decide what is the right way to put your tasks in order?

There are several methods I found to put my tasks in order. There is no "best" method but you can check each method and use the one that suits you best.

• Importance-based ordering: If you have some urgent tasks, it is a good method to use. For example, let's say you have 3 tasks at hand: Working on your hobby project, studying, and learning a new language. If you are a student whose finals are coming, you can put these tasks in order like this: Studying - Learning a New Language - Working on a Hobby Project. In this case, studying has the utmost importance because you must pass your classes. After that comes learning a new language. You may not need to learn a language immediately but if you're not learning it as a hobby, you will probably have a use case for that in the future. And lastly comes your hobby project. You don't have to work on it, you don't have a deadline, and you probably don't have much to gain from it except enjoyment and fulfillment. So it has the last place in our importance-based ordering. When using this method, you can ensure that you give most of your energy to the most important tasks at hand. So it is a good method to use if you have some urgent tasks.

• Difficulty-based ordering: If you have several tasks that vary in difficulty, it is a good method to use. Let's continue with the same "student who learns a language and has a hobby" example. In this case, we know that the student is having struggles with his studies. And his hobby project is writing blog posts which is something he does with ease. Now, this student can put these tasks in order based on their difficulties like this: Studying - Learning a New Language - Working on a Hobby Project. This is a good method to manage your energy. Because every task will probably drain some of your energy. Usually, harder tasks take more of your energy. And if you leave your hardest tasks to the last, you might not have enough energy to work on them.

• Satisfaction-based ordering: If you have some tasks that give you satisfaction, this method may be your cup of tea. While talking about difficulty-based learning, I mentioned that every task will most likely drain some of your energy and you might not have enough for the hard tasks if you leave them to the last. But this might not be the case if you have some tasks you think you're productive in and that give you satisfaction. Because getting satisfaction can actually boost your energy and let you gain more energy than you lost. To give an example, let's assume our language learner student is very passionate about his hobby and likes solving math problems. In this case, he put his tasks in this order: Working on a Hobby Project - Studying - Learning a New Language. This way, our student can actually boost his energy while working on his hobby project because he knows he makes progress and gets results. This will help him start his next with much more energy and motivation. On top of that, putting the task that motivates you the most at the start of the list can help you start working on your tasks rather than procrastinating.

I recommend you consider each method because one can be more suitable than the others for different use cases.