Are Your Priorities ‘Really’ Your Priorities?
If you’re anything like me, you probably have a to-do list next to your lap top right now.
A system
A way of staying on track
A method that’s meant to keep your priorities clear
But does it, really?
Were you in the middle of something important when you heard the ping of a new notification & this very newsletter became the latest (and very welcome!) distraction!
It’s a small moment, but an important one.
Because research from McKinsey suggests that executives spend up to 60% of their time on ‘low-value’ activities and Harvard Business Review highlights that leaders often feel their time is fragmented and reactive rather than aligned to strategic priorities.
Sound familiar?
Most of us don’t struggle to set priorities, the challenge is holding on to them in real time
And part of the reason sits in how we are wired.
Our brains are naturally drawn to what feels urgent and immediately actionable; clearing an email, responding to someone asking for our attention, ticking something off the list.
Each small completion can trigger a release of dopamine, the brain’s reward chemical, giving us a quick sense of satisfaction.
So we gravitate towards it, not because it matters most, but because it feels good in the moment.
Meanwhile, the work that really matters; thinking time, strategic conversations, longer-term priorities is slower, less defined, less immediately satisfying and easier to delay.
So they get pushed down the line, not through lack of hard work but because the environment and our biology are quietly pulling us somewhere else.
Recently, in a team meeting we reviewed our quarterly organisational priorities or ‘rocks’ as we call them, and it was a helpful reminder of what we said was important but have quietly drifted away from.
It was a helpful moment.
Not because we don’t know them, but because we could see how easily we had drifted away from them.
Priorities don’t disappear, they get crowded out by the meetings we agree to, the conversations and people we prioritise and the tasks that seem to immediate to ignore. And over time this shapes far more than our to-do lists, it shapes how we lead and how we live!
Before stepping fully into the next quarter, it’s worth taking a moment, not to re-think everything. Just to notice
- What did you say mattered most at the start of the year?
- Did it actually get your time and attention?
- If not, what took its place?
- Was that intentional, or reactive?
We often talk about putting the big rocks in first & it’s a great practice, that works.
But in reality, this shouldn’t just happen at the start of the year or the quarter, it needs to happen weekly, perhaps even daily so that priorities consistently shape our relationship with time.
Like most leadership practices, this doesn’t require a big dramatic overhaul, but it does require discipline and practice – especially in the modern environment.
Moment by moment we need to train ourselves to consciously return to what matters.
Because it’s not that we don’t know what’s important.
It’s what happens to our attention in reality
An invitation for a small reset for the next quarter.
Before the pace picks up again, revisit your priorities
We’ve created a simple one-page prompt to help you re-set your focus
No frameworks, no complexity, just a practical way to bring your attention back to what matters most.
Because sometimes the smallest pause makes the biggest difference.
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