The Number 3 Will Help You Be More Productive
Use this strategy to avoid overwhelm at work and get things done.
A common recommendation to avoid overwhelm is to have ‘good boundaries’. (Thank you, Brene Brown.) To protect your time and energy in order and save it for your most important activities. It can be difficult, however, to have boundaries in place when you do not have clear priorities.
Priorities are defined as: a thing that is regarded as more important than another.
And when it comes to priorities, we recommend having no more than three.
The number three has symbolic significance.
It is the first number that can create a pattern, the lowest prime number, and has special significance in numerology, astrology, and even in copywriting (aka persuasion). In Greek philosophy, “the number 3 was considered as the perfect number, the number of harmony, wisdom and understanding.”
It is a small enough number that you can easily remember and large enough to include essential tasks in different areas of work. By keeping your priorities top of mind, you can more easily filter tasks that do not align with your most important work.
Here’s how to set your top three:
Brainstorm all your tasks
Write down everything that you think you need to do into a master to-do list. It can be helpful to set a timer and write everything out in 3 minutes.
Filter through to remove the nonessentials
Remove any items from the list that aren’t important to you at this time. This can be tasks for a project for the future, ideas for starting new nonessential things, or tasks that are not your direct responsibility.
Rank your remaining list
From the list that is left, rank your tasks using a number system. The tasks that you have listed as 1, 2, and 3, are your top three.
Whether you are setting daily, weekly, or lifelong priorities, we recommend using the number three for harmony, wisdom, and understanding.
