3 Keys Thursday: Key Priorities

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Since last Saturday, I've graded 60 psychology papers, 24 projects and 26 take-home responses. This morning, as I thought about this blog, I determined that my three keys for today would be:

• Listening to eight group presentations (before noon) and jotting comments (which will need to be translated into grades).
• Listening to 23 presentations from my freshmen, linking success with course readings.
• Going to Connecticut to pick up my daughter from college.

Most of the time, the three keys I write about  are much less specific (and personal) and have much more to do with organization or time management than today's do. But, sometimes the keys to a having a good day lie in setting priorities. 

Some days, we can set our own priorities; other days, they're set for us. Today, my two final exam periods, scheduled by the college, defined the outline of my day. Key #1 needed to be checked off before I could move on to keys 2 and 3. Setting a long list of other things to do when my day had already been prioritized would be not only foolish, but frustrating and futile as well.

And, when you think about it, the key to success in anything is knowing where you're going and what's most important, making priority-setting perhaps the most important organizational tool of all.