Prioritization Coaching

Unlock your full potential with strategies and tips for prioritization.

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What Is Prioritization?

Prioritization is the act of arranging items or activities in order of importance relative to each other.

Table of Contents

What is prioritization?

Prioritization tips and strategies

How prioritization coaching can help you

What to expect with prioritization coaching

Additional Executive Function skills we help with

Prioritize like a Pro

Learn tried and true prioritization strategies that will help you take control of your day.

Prioritization Strategies

Prioritization is the process of deciding the relative importance or urgency needed when faced with multiple tasks. Our coaches teach prioritization by helping clients set realistic goals and prioritize tasks based on importance and urgency.

5-Finger Breathing

When we’re feeling stressed out or overwhelmed, our brain is in an emotionally charged state that makes it much harder to think clearly or use our brain at full capacity. When this happens, the solution should be something that quickly brings our mind back to a calm baseline. One simple and effective strategy to achieve this is called 5-Finger breathing. Here's how it works.

Find a comfortable place to sit and hold up a hand. Use your index finger from your other hand and start slowly tracing the edges of your raised fingers, starting with the thumb. As you go up your thumb, inhale deeply. As you trace down your thumb, exhale fully. Continue tracing your hand as you do the same breathing pattern throughout. Do it again with the other hand for maximum effect. Feel calmer? You’ve successfully re-engaged the logical part of your brain!

5-Minute Goals

Continuing the theme of "5" strategies, 5-minute goals are a great way to take an overwhelming task and break it down into more manageable, bite-sized chunks. So how does this work?

To use 5-minute goals, select a task you need to get done, set the timer for 5-minutes, and get started! You can even try this strategy for tasks that might take more than 5 minutes as a simple way to get started. Once the timer is up, you can decide if you want to keep working on the task or take it break. After all, 5-minutes on a task is better than none at all! 

Urgency Scoring

More often than not, stress stems from the pressure we feel to complete the tasks on our to-do lists. However, we often forget to ask an important question - what's actually urgent and what can wait? When we take the time to determine which tasks or responsibilities are most urgent, we often realize that much of what we were stressing about can wait, allowing us to prioritize what truly needs immediate. One excellent strategy to determine those priorities is Urgency Scoring. Here's how it works.

Start by first writing down every task you're stressed about completing, and the give each ask a score from 1-4 based on how urgent it is (4 = most urgent, 1 = least urgent.) After you've scored all tasks, count up how many are a 3 or 4. In doing so, you've revealed which tasks need your immediate attention and which ones can wait. If you still have an overwhelming number of 3s and 4s, highlight the ones that feel most important. These will be the ones that give you the most impact for your time and should be the primary focus for your day and/or week. On the other hand, those twos and ones can probably wait. An example of these could be a routine dentist appointment or a load of laundry. After all, the world won't end if your teeth or clothes don't get cleaned for another day (at least we sure hope not!)

 

How Coaching Helps With Prioritization

Individualized prioritization coaching will help you improve your quality of life.
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Focus
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Stress management
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Distractability
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Productivity
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Organization

What To Expect From Prioritization Coaching

In 1:1 sessions online, coaches help clients identify, employ, and evaluate tools and strategies that address their specific needs. Our coaches customize their approach to each individual depending upon their attitude toward changing work habits. We use a research-based model to attain clients’ buy-in to improve their self-management skills and lead to lasting change.

A Four-Step Process

Coaches at Beyond BookSmart use 4 steps - Reach, Teach, Reflect, and Release - when working with clients. 

  • You and your child share your goals
  • Your child learns customized time management strategies
  • Your child gains insight and accountability
  • Your child becomes proficient at managing time.

Other Executive Function Skills We Help With

The foundation of our program is built on the premise of helping the student develop long-term habits for success. We go beyond assisting our students with work and aim to approve their working habits in

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Procrastination

Our coaches don't look at procrastination as a sign of laziness, but rather as a habit stemming from avoidance. Coaches work to get to the root of this avoidance by connecting with our clients through reflective conversations.

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Organization

Our coaches are equipped with a deep knowledge of well-researched organizational tools & strategies at their fingertips. Coaches work to better understand their clients' organizational habits and get to the root of their barriers to implementing systems to get organized.

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Focus

Our coaches look at a lack of focus as a sign that a client's work habits may need renewed structure. Coaches teach clients strategies that help them minimize or eliminate distractions and reduce multitasking while they work.

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Stress Management

Our Executive Function coaches approach stress management challenges with understanding, empathy, and a solution-based outlook.

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Time Management

Coaches introduce time management strategies that encourage clients to estimate how long certain tasks will take and then plan out when they'll get them done.

 

 

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Task Initiation

At times, even successful, high-achieving individuals may struggle to begin a difficult or less-than-exciting task. However, when this becomes a regular habit - one that leads to last-minute scrambles, time-wasting, stress, and missed opportunities - it can have serious consequences on our academic and personal lives. 

Interested In Coaching For Adults?

WorkSmart Coaching is a division of Beyond BookSmart that specializes in adult coaching.

WorkSmart coaches have master’s degrees or higher and have a track record of success working with adults like you. Many also have experience working as educators or therapists. In other words, they've dedicated their professional lives to helping people learn, grow, and be their very best.

Have Questions? We've Got Answers.

Whether this is your first time hearing the term “Executive Function Coaching” or you are looking to get your student started today, review some of our most frequently asked questions to learn more about our methodology and approach.