Finding a simple way to pressure test the importance of work helps alleviate the feeling that everything is important. Ask yourself these questions, perhaps ask your staff or colleagues, and surface the real prioritization.

Would I feel comfortable telling my boss that I did this instead of that?

Ask this question when something new comes to you and you are going to displace something on which you are already working. A direct comparison is often hard. This question requires you see the work through the eyes of your boss (or maybe another senior leader).

In most normal work environments, there is more work than time to finish it all. You may end up disappointing someone. Before you do one or the other, ask yourself what your boss would say. Prepare for the eventual conversation on why something took a back seat.

Let us take a routine example of reading e-mail. No doubt important, reading e-mail could take up much of your day. Many folks are continuously catching up on e-mail. As a manager, you also are responsible for day-to-day staff management. You probably have regular one on one meetings with each of your staff. Ask yourself, how would your boss react if you shared that you prioritized reading e-mail over your one on one meeting with your staff?

You may find that your day is packed with meetings. You get a request for a meeting when you already have something planned. This is a direct head-to-head prioritization, when you choose to cancel or move the existing meeting you are prioritizing the new request. Ask yourself, how would your boss react if you treat this new request as a higher priority?

Will I get fired if that doesn’t get done?

I don’t always have two things that I am comparing directly. In some cases, I am trying to determine the importance of a particular initiative. In this case, I ask myself “Will I get fired if this isn’t done?”

To be sure, this is a high-pass filter that will drop out many important items on your list. It may seem as though there are many key responsibilities to your job. In reality, there are not many things you would be fired for not doing. There are only a few core things that your job depends on.

You can use this question as a complement to “Am I the only person who can do this work?” When you won’t get fired if something isn’t done (or isn’t done perfectly), it becomes a solid candidate to delegate. Give away responsibilities that are less critical.

What is the cost of not doing that until…

Often times we are evaluating the cost of a delay. When you ask yourself “What’s the cost of delaying a week?” you get a more concrete sense of the immediacy of the priority.

I find that when I ask this question, I realize the cost of delaying a week is low or nothing. In some cases, delaying provides more time to gather information and make a better decision. Ask yourself the cost of delaying in order to add another dimension to the question above. Use a time horizon of a day, week, month and evaluate the timeline within which something becomes critical.

For example, you ask yourself “Will I get fired if I don’t check my email today?” the answer is probably “No.” Ask again “Will I get fired if I don’t check my email in a month?” the answer is very different. Adding a timeline to the relative prioritization allows you to say yes to multiple priorities without doing them all simultaneously.

What questions do you use to evaluate priority for your work?