Time is Finite: The Sooner You Realize, The Better

It’s a harsh truth many fail to realize early on: our time is finite. I was once scattered, saying yes to everything, ending up everywhere yet nowhere. This changed when I grasped the limitations of my time.

Realizing that agreeing to everything wasn’t the pathway to success, I learned the importance of discerning what to embrace and what to decline. Herein lies the role of setting priorities. Many of us neglect this, treating every task with equal importance, leading to suboptimal achievements.

If everything holds the same significance, you’ll attempt to accomplish it all within your limited timeframe. Especially in tech, where numerous skills demand mastery, an undiscriminating approach fosters competition between learning tasks.

The saying “movement doesn’t necessarily mean progress” rings true. Being everywhere doesn’t equate to proficiency. Stretching oneself too thin yields minimal progress.

This reflection serves as a reminder to myself and others to prioritize effectively, ensuring meaningful progress rather than mere motion.

So, how can we better prioritize in our quest for skills, given the multitude of essential learnings? I utilize a framework that I’ve termed the “SkillPrio Framework” to address this challenge:

SkillPrio Framework – by Ehoneah Obed

In this framework:

Must-Have (Urgent): These are skills that are crucial for your current goals and have an immediate need. You should prioritize these and start learning them right away.

Must-Have (Not Urgent): These are essential skills, but they are not needed immediately. You can schedule them for future learning and incorporate them into your long-term plans.

Nice-to-Have (Urgent): While these skills would be beneficial, they are not critical for your current goals. You can consider working on them during your spare time, but they shouldn’t interfere with your must-have urgent skills.

Nice-to-Have (Not Urgent): These are skills that are not immediately necessary and can be put on hold until you have more time or until they become more relevant to your goals.

Note that priorities can shift with changing circumstances and goals, necessitating regular reviews and adjustments.

I’m in the process of refining and publicly releasing this framework to aid in skill prioritization.

Stay tuned for the framework! In the meantime, start categorizing your pursuits using this quadrant to guide your approach.

Until tomorrow!