This post may contain affiliate links.
“There are 7 days in a week and “Someday” isn’t one of them” – Author Unknown.
While I couldn’t find the original author for this quote, I love it! Also, it happens to align directly with what’s going on in my life lately.
What is A Priority?
Do you ever feel that you have too many “priorities”? Which priority is really the most important, and how can you focus on it so “someday” isn’t on your timeline?
I understand you!
In fact, as much as I love that my little blog has taken off in its first 5 months (there are 934 of you as of this minute, and I had 18000 monthly pageviews last month!), I have to be sure my PhD doesn’t fall off the list.
So, I want to talk about a theory I found on the web that might help you define your priorities. First, though, I’ll take you through how I, personally, define my main priority, keeping in mind that priorities can shift month to month and year to year, as you strive to meet your goals. (In case you didn’t catch my post on How to Set Goals That Work, it’s here).
4 Steps to Defining Your Priority
1. What do you want most from life?
For me, that’s making The Teaching Cove a full-time business through e-books and courses, while still providing awesome free resources for teachers, like I do in my printables library.
Keeping this as a priority until my launch is why I’ve been MIA to all my friends the last week. In fact, I finished up my first e-book this past weekend, 25 TED Talk Lesson Plans for Your English Class, which you can find here!
2. What’s one more goal you really want to achieve and really want to focus on right now?
For me, that’s achieving my fitness goal. While I won’t go into details on my struggle here, so this post doesn’t turn into a novel, let’s say that takes a lot of time and energy.
(Hint: it’s not lack of discipline or determination that’s stopping me).
3. What can you let go of?
So, there will be items you have to remove from your list, even if they are on your medium term goal list (you have my goal setting template, right?) For example, I’ve had to let go of my lovely French lessons. Last year, I was working really hard to get my French back, and devoted 7 hours per week to this (2 hours in a private class, 2 hours of homework, 2 hours of watching a film, and 4 hours a month at a French Meetup group). Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep it all up and run the blog, teach English, do a PhD, follow a strict a meal and fitness plan, start skiing again, and care for my dog.
Well, my goal of being a DALF (Advanced French) exam certificate holder will have to wait! What are you letting go of?
4. What do you still need to hang on to?
For me, that’s the PhD. Don’t get me wrong, I love my topic (individual students’ differences in second language acquisition in a study abroad context), but I find data analysis to be a huge struggle. A four year solo project, too, isn’t my idea of a whole lot of fun – I’m more about collaborating. Due to time restrictions, I have to alternate my blog with my PhD priority. So, if I’m a little MIA this week, that’s why 😉
The Four Burner Priority Theory
So, I’m not sure who the original author of this theory is, but I first heard about it from James Clear. It’s a really simple way to visualize priorities.
Imagine a stove top with four burners.
To be successful, you need to only use 3 burners at a time. Actually, to be very successful, you only use 2, so you can really focus and do well. Don’t cheat and try to combine burners; it won’t work. James Clear explains why in his post here.
The “4 Burners” are:
- Friends
- Family
- Health
- Work
So, I’m sure you can tell that mine are Health and Work at the moment! Perhaps I have 2 Burners of work, if you include the PhD!
Another Resource on Avoiding Burnout
Part of avoiding burn-out is establishing work-life balance. Over at the Groom & Style blog, there is an awesome work-life balance guide you may want to check out. They have great tips on stress in the “millenial lifestyle craze”, as they call it.
Well, I hope my brief post on setting your top priority is helpful. What are your “burners”? What are your goals? Comment below and let me know – I love hearing from The Teaching Cove’s readers!
Have a lovely and productive Monday!
P.S. Photo fans, the main image in today’s post (and poster!) is one I took during a summer road trip in 2016 in the beautiful town of Santa Margherita di Ligure, Italy.
Grab Your Free Motivational Posters!
Want ready-to-print motivational posters delivered to your inbox every Monday? Join and you'll also get my no-fail Goal Setting Template. Access to a library of free teaching, organizational and motivational printables is included, too! You'll get occasional, exciting updates and free printables monthly. Privacy Policy
Related Posts
Motivational Monday: There Are No Solutions, Only Tradeoffs- Motivational Monday: It’s Not the (Work) Load that Breaks You, It’s How You Carry It
- On Joy: Of The All Things That Can Be Taken, Don’t Let This Be One
- Motivational Monday: Rise Above The Little Things
- Motivational Monday: On Culture – Everything You Think Is Right Can Be Wrong
Hi Sapna,
I loveeeeee the quote you opened with. I’m all about the quotes. It’s sooo true. How many times do we tell ourselves, later, not now, some day. Truth is that someday never comes.
Every week starts with outlining my to-dos and prioritizing one thing to accomplish each day. That one task that brings me a bit closer to my goals.
Thanks for the encouragement,
Nadalie, It’s All You Boo
View CommentNEW POST: 12 Easy Ways to Spring Clean Your Mind
I love goals and to-do lists! Glad you liked the post and thanks for commenting 🙂
View CommentThank you so much for this post! I sometimes get so sidetracked and this was such a great reminder to sit down and re-prioritize my focus. (ps. Good luck with your PhD, thats a goal and a half!) x
View CommentI think we all get sidetracked sometimes! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post 🙂 Thank you – it’s quite challenging, and I’m trying not to get sidetracked myself!
View CommentThis is great. It’s often easy to get lost in what is “REALLY” a Priority and what is really just an added bonus. I really like your 4 Burners. Thanks for this post!
View CommentI agree with the added bonuses! It’s hard to differentiate them sometimes. I first heard of the 4 burners idea from James Clear’s blog, but I’m not sure who the original author is 🙂
View CommentMy burners are family, myself, friends, and happiness.
View CommentLove this post by the way! I want to see more self-improving posts like these 🙂
I like the idea of happiness in general as a burner!
View CommentGiving me a lot to think about!
View CommentGreat!
View CommentFocusing on one thing is something I have always struggled with. I just get bored to easily. However I think I am getting better at it, and with my website aesum.org I feel like I can do anything I am interested in at the moment because it is mine and I do it for fun. This makes it a LOT easier for me.
View CommentThat makes sense! I think finding your passion is the key 🙂
View CommentSomeday is today. My son is my number one concern right now, but as he grows, I am finding time to follow other passions. With that being said, I am not a superwoman and sometimes my house looks like it erupted.
View CommentThat’s great! I believe following your passions is SO important!
View CommentI agree it is so important to prioritize the things in your life without leaving your passions and interests behind. Earlier I was compromising on that but my website (www.allgudthings.com) has given me a direction.
View CommentI’m glad you found a way to follow your passion!
View Comment