WHAT ARE "YOUR" PRIORITIES??

Do you ever think about how you prioritize things every day? It seems as if those priorities can change from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. For instance, plan a meeting, school calls, your child got hurt at recess. Meeting changes, drive to school, drive home or in an extreme case the hospital which you know will take up the remainder of your day so you had better cancel all of the other appointments you thought were a priority today because this takes true "priority".

How we prioritize things in our life is determined by a number of factors. It's not just about what we "want" to do. It’s not just about something having a high or low priority, It’s not just about how urgent or how much time something requires. Yet we don’t just randomly decide to do one task over another, Even as we grow older and our situations change (we become richer, older, healthier, etc.) so do our priorities.

Consider how the following effects your life and the choices you make.

Single parent vs two parent home
Small children vs grown children vs no children
Healthy parents vs older in need of assistance parents
Living close to family vs family in another state
Single vs married
Going to college vs starting work for financial stability
Job vs career
Self employed vs. punching a clock
High pressure job vs relaxing no stress job
Great salary vs just getting by with your paycheck
Having to work to pay the bills vs having enough to pay the bills and enjoy life
Choosing to pay your electric bill vs taking your kids to dinner
Lifestyle of being 25 vs being 45 vs being 65
Staying home to enjoy some quiet time vs visiting friends or a big night out
Doing laundry vs watching television and some down time
Planning for college vs planning for retirement
Planning grocery shopping vs drive through at McDonalds
Hour to exercise vs hour to read a great book in your spare time
Taking a ride to visit older grandparents vs taking a ride to an amusement park
Creating a savings account vs spending money and enjoying life everyday
Working from a home office vs working at your business office
Answering emails, phone calls, etc. vs getting to work that is demanded first
Planning your day vs the day making the plans for you
Making decisions yourself vs having others make decisions for you

Emotions also play a major role in decisions of choosing your priorities and should not be taken lightly. The more important a priority, the more it can become a highlight or casualty of the emotions of others. Not everyone will agree with what you believe your priorites are. Sometimes parents or employers will voice their opinion and/or decide for you what your priorities need to be depending on your age and work status.

It's just amazing to me how many outside factors come into play when you are planning what to do with your "own" time. Sometimes it's just impossible to keep up with everything that has to be done in the course of the day. However, if you think about the things that are most important to you at the time they are important, that will help you get by.

I was reading a post on someones' blog and it was just "real" so thought I would share it with you;

My priorities are to have fun and enjoy myself and my new apartment. But somehow I find myself sitting at this desk, working from 9 to 3 pm each day, bored out of my mind, and still sleeping near boxes that I haven’t been able to unpack. I hate desk jobs. I really need to reconsider this. How are we supposed to survive the office world? I think I’m really depressed. Plus my hair is falling.
(Read more: http://self-help.thehappyguy.com/2009/06/18/misplaced-priorities/#ixzz0zz8gT9Bu)

To me, there seemed to be one decision I have recently made that affects the way I plan my day and choose which things will take priority over others...

Enjoy every minute of where you are right now because you will never be at this exact moment again. Know your priorities are and have the courage; pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things that are not as important to "you". You know what they are because you have a bigger "yes" burning inside.

Pat