One day, I was casually browsing through the books in my newest favorite bookstore, checking the classics section to see which ones I needed to add to my reading list this year. That’s when I came across Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie (I know I’m a bit of a late bloomer on this read). As I was reading through each page, I asked myself, “How do you prioritize important tasks?” How can someone actually focus on what matters in this fast-paced world? In this blog post, let’s talk about how to prioritize what truly matters and my takeaways from Tuesdays with Morrie ^{(this is a paid link –As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)}.

In this time of nonstop notifications, tight schedules, and never-ending to-do lists, prioritization has become one of the biggest challenges of our modern lives. We live in a world that demands our constant attention, pulling us in multiple directions. This could be work, social obligations, side projects, family, and personal growth. Somehow, there’s this constant pressure to do everything all at the same time. I know because I feel the same from time to time.

With so many distractions, how do we decide what truly matters for us? More importantly, how do we focus on those priorities without feeling overwhelmed by everything else that demands for our attention? This blog post aims to discover why prioritization is difficult, provides practical frameworks for identifying core priorities, and offers actionable strategies to ensure we align our actions on how to prioritize what truly matters.

Why People Struggle to Focus on What Matters Most

1. The Illusion of Busyness

If you are like me, someone who used to equate being busy with being productive, we’ve fallen into the illusion of busyness. However, constantly moving from one task to another doesn’t necessarily mean we’re working on the right things. Busyness often disguises itself as progress, leading us to neglect the activities that genuinely impact our lives. We can be “busy” doing a lot of things but not necessarily progressing toward what is truly important.

In my case, balancing a full-time job, learning new skills, blogging, and managing personal responsibilities and challenges seems like I’ve been doing a lot. It is easy to feel like I’m making progress by staying busy. However, there are times when I also feel like I’m not seeing results from whatever I’m doing.

2. Decision Fatigue and Mental Overload

Every day, we make thousands of big and small decisions. The more choices we face, the harder it becomes to prioritize what truly matters. By the time we reach important decisions, our mental energy is drained, leading to poor prioritization.

There are days when I spend a lot of time thinking about how I should have work-life balance only to end up not doing anything because of mental fatigue. By the time a critical decision must be made, mental exhaustion has already set in.

3. External Pressures and Expectations

Society, family, and workplace cultures often dictate what we should prioritize rather than allowing us to determine our own values. As a result, many people spend years chasing goals that don’t necessarily align with their true desires.

People love people who show up. For years, I told myself how bad I felt when people did not show up for me, so I started stretching myself too thin just to show up for others. External pressures and expectations can sometimes lead us to prioritize others over our own goals. Don’t get me wrong, though. Showing up for others isn’t a bad thing. Just don’t forget to show up for yourself too. Learn to take a step back.

4. The Digital Distraction Trap

With social media, emails, and news updates constantly demanding for our attention, it’s easy to get caught up in what’s urgent rather than what’s important. This constant connectivity makes it even harder to focus on long-term priorities.

Social media has become an escape, to some extent (at least for me). It’s easy to fall into the trap of mindless scrolling from one app to another. This is why I avoid checking my social media accounts while working or doing research for my blogs. The digital distraction trap is real, and everyone can be a victim.

Frameworks for Identifying Your Core Priorities

1. The Eisenhower Matrix: Urgent vs. Important

You’ve probably heard of the Eisenhower Matrix quite a few times already. If you haven’t, though, it is a framework designed to help individuals prioritize tasks by placing them into categories.

This classic decision-making tool helps you categorize tasks into four quadrants:

• Urgent & Important: Handle immediately (e.g., work deadlines, family emergencies)
• Important but Not Urgent: Schedule time for these (e.g., career planning, learning, exercise)
• Urgent but Not Important: Delegate or minimize (e.g., unnecessary meetings, most emails)
• Neither Urgent nor Important: Eliminate or limit (e.g., excessive social media scrolling, distractions)

2. The 80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle)

Identify the 20% of tasks that bring 80% of the results. Focus your energy on high-impact activities rather than trying to tackle everything. If you want to know more about the 80/20 rule, I highly suggest you read Richard Koch’s The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More With Less.

For instance, instead of focusing on low-impact tasks such as checking emails all day, focus on deep work. In learning, instead of trying to master everything, focus on the 20% that pertains to the most important skills or theories.

3. The Three-Item Rule

Each day, choose three key tasks that will make the biggest difference in your work or personal life. This keeps you from feeling overwhelmed while ensuring progress.

For instance, when learning a new skill, complete one module of an online course first. Follow it with 30 minutes of practice, then take notes and summarize the key insights. This way, instead of going back and forth in the material just to remember key details, you are able to master and reflect on one module at a time.

4. The Regret Minimization Framework (Jeff Bezos’ Method)

The Regret Minimization Framework is a decision-making approach popularized by Jeff Bezos that helps you make choices based on whether you will regret them in the future.

When faced with a dilemma, ask yourself: Will I regret not doing this in five years? If the answer is yes, prioritize it. If not, reconsider whether it truly deserves your attention.

Personally, I use this framework when deciding on buying my wants. If a certain purchase will lead to regret in the future, meaning I probably won’t make the most out of it, I will most likely not buy it. Similarly, if not taking a certain opportunity will be a regret I’ll remember for years, I will go for it—no matter how scary it may seem or how unqualified I may feel. This is the same inspiration that started this blog/website. I know if I hadn’t started this website in 2022, no matter how far we are now from my initial goal, it would have been a great regret.

Lessons from Tuesdays with Morrie on Meaningful Living

Morrie’s profound lessons didn’t just change Mitch’s life; they changed ours too. Prior to reading this book, death, to me, is a scary thing. Having lost loved-ones changed my life forever. However, one of my most favorite takeaway is Morrie’s greatest insights on prioritization: focusing on love, relationships, and purpose rather than getting lost in the rat race.

Key Takeaways:

• People Over Possessions: “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love and let it come in.” In our world today, where success is often measured by money, titles, and achievement, this line from Morrie reminds us that meaningful relationships come first. The joy we find in deep connections is far more important and everlasting than the one we feel over material things. After all, knowing how to prioritize what truly matters often refers to connections that would last for years.
  
• Slow Down and Be Present: Morrie emphasizes that modern life moves too fast, and in the rush, people lose sight of what truly matters. Slowing down allows for deeper connections and greater fulfillment. Sometimes, when everyone else around us is moving up the ladder, it’s easy to feel pressured to work harder and harder until we exhaust ourselves. Sometimes, we feel the need to always be on the go. But, most of the time, immersing ourselves in the moment, savoring the experience, and making the most out of it is the best.
  
• Define Success on Your Own Terms: True success isn’t about external achievements but about living authentically according to your values. There will come a time when we realize that people define success differently. Some will see the simple and mundane life away from the bustling noise of the city as success. Others will see success as being able to provide for themselves and their families. We all define success in different ways—do not let mine or others’ definitions influence you into changing yours.

Incorporating these lessons into daily life can help shift focus from doing more to being more.

How to Align Your Actions with Your True Priorities

At the heart of prioritization is alignment—ensuring that how you spend your time reflects what you truly value. So, whenever you feel like asking yourself how to prioritize what truly matters, hopefully you’ve got a thing or two from this post.

At the end of the day, life isn’t about how much you accomplish—it’s about whether what you’re doing truly matters. Take a step back, reevaluate, and make sure you’re spending your time on what counts.

Because in a world that constantly pushes you to do more, the real success lies in doing what truly matters. Remember that each story is uniquely ours. Take inspiration from others but keep what truly yours.