Master Prioritization

In consulting, you cannot work by brute force. There is always more work than can be done. Focusing on the most impactful things is a critical skill for success.

Have you ever wondered why some consultants get done more than others?

Their productivity can be 10-20x higher.

They are high performers and superstars.

I thought that they simply worked more hours.

But it can’t be true. We all have 24 hours a day. And I worked pretty hard and long hours, but it didn’t help.

TODO Ninja

I used to be a TODO Ninja.

I would meticulously track all my tasks.

I praised myself for being a great multitasker.

I believed that my job was to clear my TODO list.

But when a manager asked me what I had accomplished that day. I realized that not so much.

Lots of things were either process tasks or unfinished work.

I felt sorry for myself, being treated unfairly. After all, I was working hard, but people didn't see and appreciate it.

I worked like crazy, drinking from a hose and working at full capacity.

But I wasn’t even close to the level of performance I desired.

Maybe it was not about working more hours and completing more tasks.

One Crucial Lesson

Then, I learned one crucial lesson.

You cannot become truly successful by doing things others tell you to do.

I learned it the hard way.

Once, I had the most challenging project in my life. I failed miserably. There was so much to do, and it was overwhelming.

But I knew I would be fired if I continued performing that way.

I had to hack the situation. I had to find one silver bullet—a breakthrough that would allow me to win big, the one that would balance out all my failures.

Luckily, I did find one breakthrough that helped the whole team to crack the case. Here is a more detailed story: - A challenging project nearly got me fired.

That one situation got me thinking. Why don't I use that approach all the time?

Why don’t I focus on finding breakthroughs from the beginning?

It was an intriguing idea

A New Approach

When thinking about tasks, I have two main lists in my mind.

1. Mission critical tasks

The first list consists of all the tasks I MUST complete.

Otherwise, my superiors will execute me.

For example, forgetting to schedule a senior client meeting would be a severe problem.

They are not necessarily the most intellectually challenging or groundbreaking. But they must be done on time. Otherwise, something horrible will happen.

2. Opportunities to win

The second list consists of breakthrough ideas and opportunities to win.

You may wonder what those mysterious breakthrough ideas are. Sometimes, they can be small insights that help you to progress your problem-solving. Sometimes, they can be game-changing insights that ultimately turn things around.

Sometimes, if I don’t have any out-of-the-box ideas, I think about the most important thing I can do to progress my workstream—one thing that will have a disproportionate impact. That one thing made it to my Opportunities list.

In these posts, you can find more examples of those insights:

The challenging project nearly got me fired.

What if you get stuck while working on the project?

50-50% Focus

Both lists should not be too long.

Typically, only a few tasks are supercritical, and you will always experience a deficit of breakthrough ideas.

They may contain only 2-3 items per each. Short enough to keep them in mind.

Then, I mentally split my time and attention 50-50% between these two lists.

It doesn’t always work that way. The first list tends to cannibalize the second one.

But I know if I don’t invest time in the second, I can’t be successful.

So often, I force myself to focus on the second list, ignoring many other low-priority tasks.

Two Interesting Things Happened

Two interesting things happened once I invested more time in the second list.

First, I started getting better at identifying new opportunities.

Before, I was too busy to see them. I couldn’t imagine taking on any new tasks and would try to avoid anything outside my official scope.

I had perfected my skills of explaining to people why something cannot be done. By the way, if you don't know, this is highly annoying to leadership.

But then, I started seeing these opportunities everywhere. I started exploring them with interest and curiosity.

Second. I started winning more.

Leadership and clients were impressed by those wins. They loved them.

It started creating a halo effect. It gave me leeway in other things.

For example, people treat you with less scrutiny, allow you to make mistakes, and give you the benefit of the doubt.

Also, imagine you came up with a breakthrough analysis that helps to crack the whole case. I bet partners won't care that you hadn't done some random task with number 57 on the priority list.

This helps to free up time and focus on new opportunities and ideas.

What About Other Random Tasks?

I hear the critics say. What about other random tasks coming our way? What to do with them when they already become our problem? That is a fair question.

I still keep track and execute them if I can. But I am using the remaining time after I have invested sufficient time in the second list, and there are no disasters looming from the first one.

For example, I never start a day by doing random tasks.

Tips and Tricks

Ignore is the Best Approach

Ignoring incoming tasks is the best approach. I'll let them sit on the to-do list and mature.

Half of the tasks die by themselves without needing to do anything. This is my favorite type of task.

Also, I monitor what tasks might transform into a ‘Mission critical’ list. I want to spot them early before it is too late. If I see any potential danger, I take them to work under the first list.

We have an internal joke with my teams. Sometimes, I ask them why they haven't done something I asked. They say that I haven't asked them twice. It must have not been that important. They ignored it as I taught them. Fair enough. I laugh.

Once you become more confident, you will have more courage to ignore most tasks.

You need to focus on the second bucket and score some good wins.

Just ignoring what leadership tells you to do without winning is a dangerous game.

Proactively Communicate Priorities

It is always helpful to proactively communicate priorities to leadership. Don't wait to be asked, or even worse, told what to do. At that time, you lose control of your process.

If they know your priorities, they’ll let you do your things. You avoid micromanaging.

It also helps to avoid any attempts to bother you with small random tasks. They know that you are focusing on critical things. And won't want to distract you from executing them.

Deep Work

Projects can be chaotic. Random meetings will quickly consume all your time.

We often see this sequence. During the day, consultants have back-to-back client meetings. In the evening, teams have various problem-solving sessions and check-ins.

But when are you supposed to create great content? Let alone think. Without content leadership, you can’t be successful.

Nobody will create space for you to think except you.

It is essential to carve out meaningful blocks of time for deep work on your opportunity tasks. I would try having at least two 1-2 hour blocks daily to do deep work.

You have to steal back your time for yourself. For example, I used to hide from the manager and the team. Be crafty.

Protect Your Time

Consultants give away their time lightly.

Phrases like: ‘Let's quickly hop on a call’, ‘That meeting looks interesting, let me also join’, and ‘Let’s do check-ins twice a day‘, kill your productivity.

Being busy is an intoxicating feeling. It gives a false sense of security, a feeling that you are working hard.

But in reality, this all can be a mirage. At the end of it, you may end up with nothing.

Think about whether all those meetings are really important.

Differentiate Time

Try to work on priority tasks in the morning while you are fresh and have lots of energy.

The must-do and other tasks can be done in the afternoon when you can still do mechanical tasks.

Don't trade off morning time. Don't crunch in the evening, then start late in the morning or feel brain-dead.

This is a very stupid trade-off. It can dig you into a productivity hole.

I know it's easier to say than do, especially for junior colleagues. But now you know what to strive for to improve your performance.

Get Things Done & Trello

I use David Allen's 'Get Things Done' method to manage my to-do lists. It is a very neat and powerful method.

I also use Trello as my primary system to track all my work, personal tasks, and activities. I created a Kanban board using GTD categories (Inbox, Action, Waiting List, and Maybe).

Once I started executing this approach, my performance improved.

I had more time to focus on essential things. And spend less time on random non-value-adding activities.

Work became more exciting. It became like a game of hacking. Every time, I challenged myself to find one breakthrough that could turn the whole project around.

The interesting thing is that almost always, I could. Every project or situation has a high-impact area, and often, we don’t see them focusing on random things.

Practice, and you get better at it.

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P.S.

I feel your pain.

I struggled to perform as a consultant with extremely high expectations and minimal support.

My life turned into relentless stress, pain, and anxiety.

But I always suspected that there should be a better way.

Nine years later, I designed the coaching program I desperately needed back then.

Its sole focus is helping MBB consultants achieve high performance. Only then can you build strong sponsorships, find great projects, and become confident.

If you are an MBB consultant and want to achieve high performance, please
Book a 1-1 Discovery Session.

Learn more about the Hero Journey coaching program.

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