What to do when everything feels urgent

Ever feel like your day slips away before you’ve even had a chance to start? I’ve been there. Some days I’m powering through a big project—other days, I’m just trying to get moving.

In this email, I’m breaking down three simple ways I use to organize my tasks based on how I’m feeling, what needs to get done, and how to build momentum when it’s just not happening on its own.

When Everything Feels Urgent

There are days when I sit down and everything feels like it has to get done right now.

But the truth is, not all tasks matter equally. And if I don’t step back and look at what really matters, I end up busy—but not productive.

I’ve found that how I choose what to do affects everything—my stress, focus, and what actually gets done.

So I started testing simple ways to make better choices—fast.

3 Easy Ways to Prioritize

Here’s the methods I go back to, again and again:

1. The Jar Method
Picture a jar that needs to be filled with rocks, gravel, and sand. If you start with the sand (the small stuff), there’s no room for the rocks (the important tasks). But if you start with the big rocks, everything fits.

That’s how I try to handle my day when I’m feeling up to it: big tasks first, then smaller ones around them. I schedule them just like that. It’s a simple way to make sure the important stuff gets done.

2. Eat the Frog
If there’s a hard, important task I’m avoiding, I’ll try to knock it out first. That one thing I’d rather avoid? That’s the frog. When I bite the bullet and just do it, the rest of the day feels lighter. No more mental drag.

3. Momentum Building
Some days, I don’t have the energy for a big rock or a frog. On those days, I pick a small, real task and finish it. Not busywork—something that actually matters. That quick win gives me enough momentum to keep going most of the time.

Each of these methods fits different kinds of days. The key is picking the one that matches how you feel—and then actually using it.

Extra Extra

Here are a few interesting reads and tools I came across that build on this idea of flexible task management:

1. “How to Prioritize When Everything Feels Important” – A short but smart article from Todoist with visual tools and questions to help you sort tasks by impact.
   👉 https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/how-to-prioritize

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