3 Managing and Prioritizing Tasks

Basics

For K-12 help desk technicians, prioritizing tasks is an essential skill to balance the varied and often unpredictable demands of your role. Quickly being able to determine the urgency of a task based on details such as number of users impacted (a single user vs entire building), the depth of impact (cannot access a website vs entire internet is down), and the tasks impacted (unable to print to a specific printer vs access to student information system) will be vital. 

You can think of priorities as juggling balls:

Glass balls which will break if you drop them. These are critical priorities. They are projects or jobs that must be successfully accomplished within a specified amount of time, no matter what. A project that is labeled critical will include access to resources - including other people - that are necessary to complete the work successfully. These are also known as Must do tasks.

Plastic balls bounce. When we drop something plastic, there can be consequences so the preference is to not to drop them. These represent important priorities. These projects/jobs can have a significant impact on performance or function. Resources are usually fixed and the variable becomes time or the value of the objective. These are also known as Should do tasks.

Ghosts balls are imaginary. If we drop these, there are not any consequences and we can add them back at any time. These are desirable priorities in which resources and time are both variables. These also may be personal in nature but have loose connections to organizational goals or needs. These are also known as Nice to Do tasks.

 If you’re not organized, the critical priority tasks can slip to the back of your mind while you use up time working on desirable priorities. How can you stick to your priorities to accomplish goals and make the best use of your time?

You should know the following terms:

  • Batch
  • Critical priorities (Must do tasks)
  • Desirable priorities (Nice to do tasks)
  • Eisenhower Matrix
  • Important priorities (Should do tasks)
  • Risk management
  • Self-discipline 
  • Service Model
  • Standard operating procedure (SOP)

The Eisenhower Matrix

Begin prioritizing your goals and tasks by rank-ordering them based on what’s important, not what’s urgent. Other people may think that their requests are urgent, but you have to organize your tasks by what is most important to the entire system, not a single person. The Eisenhower Matrix is a method for dividing your to-do list into four quadrants. Check out the illustration below for an explanation. 

Quadrant 1: DO IT! This quadrant contains things that MUST be done and that have clear consequences if they are not. If you spend all of your time putting out fires, you are probably not doing enough planning ahead and spending too much time in this category. Careful planning and attention to your goals will help you move most of your time into Quadrant 2. 

Quadrant 2: SCHEDULE IT! This quadrant contains activities that bring you closer to your goals. Tasks can be scheduled on your calendar in advance, and planned for. When you have control over your time, your work becomes much more manageable and pleasant. Most of your time should be spent in this quadrant.

Be careful of procrastination! Tasks can easily go from Quadrant 2 to Quadrant 1 if you are not attentive to the required timeline of tasks.

Quadrant 3: DELEGATE IT! Part of managing your work is learning how to build and develop others who work with you. This might be student help desk workers, volunteers, or other “people resources” you have access to.

If your district does not have one, consider exploring a student help desk system. There will be a lot of tasks that do not require your specific skills that others can be trained to do. It may require some upfront extra time in training but in the long run it can be a huge benefit to you. Students can learn how to do so many tasks that can be taken off your plate. While you are diagnosing issues with technology, they can be replacing hard drives, answering questions for students and teachers, taking in or delivering computers, or a variety of other tasks. 

Quadrant 4: DELETE IT! Distractions can really hamper productivity. When you are tempted to hop on your phone to check social media or when someone asks you to do something that is not in your job description, learn to say, “No,” in the appropriate way.

How Does Saying “No” Affect Your Priorities?

Your core job may suffer if you say “Yes” to work that is not yours or work that prevents you from getting the tasks in Quadrant 2 completed. 

Here are a few times when it’s most likely appropriate to say “No:"

It is not part of your job or department responsibilities. In many schools, there is confusion as to the roles of support staff, and teachers will ask the wrong person or request help from multiple people. Maybe it’s an issue that needs to be resolved by someone in a different department or someone with access to resources you do not have. You spending time on the task may result in duplicate effort, and wasted time on your part.

You are not currently available to help them. As discussed in the section on Organizing Your Work, multitasking results in more time and effort. You may be in the middle of another task when asked to address their current issue. Additionally it may take more time to complete a new task than you have at just that moment. If that is the case, try following the two-minute Rule: If you can do a task in two minutes, do it and get it over with. 

To protect your time and meet your goals, if you need to say, “No,” try using these phrases:

  • “I would love to be able to help you but…(be honest and share the real reason).”

  • “I’m sorry but that’s something I’m not authorized to do…(but tell them who can, if it is an authorized request).” 

  • “I totally understand that this site is very important for your classroom. Let me talk to my supervisor and find out why we have that site blocked.” 

  • “I know how frustrating it can be but…(offer an alternative).”

  • “I’m sorry that I can’t help you. It’s illegal for me to do that.” (For example, duplicating copyright-protected intellectual property, showing a resource you don’t have the license for, providing access to resources not approved by the district/school.)

Just remember, when you are saying “No” to one thing, you are saying “Yes" to something more important.

Tips for Managing Your Tasks

  • Know your peak productivity times. Everyone has times of the day when they are the most productive. Use these times for your most challenging tasks, such as troubleshooting complex technical issues or planning for a major project. This increases the likelihood of successful task completion and reduces the potential for errors that require concentration.
  • Eat the Frog: Start with the task you least want to do and get it done and over with. This will make your day less stressful.
  • Chunk your work: Break up large projects and priorities into manageable chunks. Just like a parent takes a large “chunk of chicken” and cuts it into small, bite-size pieces, take your larger projects and break them down into doable steps. 
  • Avoid context switching. The more you try to do two things at once, the less focused you are and the more mistakes you make. when you interrupt yourself to move to a different task that has distracted you.
  • Schedule meetings during the day in a way that you maintain large blocks of time to get tasks and goals accomplished. 
  • Clear the decks. Try setting aside an entire day to get an important task that is high on your priority list done. This requires communication and planning to be successful.
  • Use tools and technology like digital calendars, project-management software, or task lists to help you keep track of your tasks and deadlines, making it easier to prioritize.
  • Stay Flexible. In a school environment, unexpected issues always arise. Add time in your day to catch up. Stay flexible and be prepared to re-prioritize your tasks if needed. 
  • Review and Adjust Regularly. Your priorities may change over time. Regularly review your tasks and adjust your priorities as needed.
  • Function with your department or district's standard operating procedures - this is usually a service model for IT. (Learn more in our Service Model Basic content.) 

Scripting as a Time Management Tool

Scripting is a way to automate a sequence of tasks. When you write a script, you're essentially creating a mini program that can run on your computer or server to carry out tasks without manual intervention. Scripts are useful for automating repetitive tasks, streamlining complex processes, monitoring systems, or troubleshooting. Either way, they can save time and help you be more efficient. Common scripting languages you may encounter in your work include:

Examples of ways you might use scripting in K-12 technology include:

  • Deploying software;
  • Reimaging/setting up new computers;
  • Setting up user accounts;
  • Patching/deploying security patches;
  • Backing up and restoring local files;
  • Resetting passwords;
  • Restarting services;
  • Rebooting machines;
  • Freeing up disk space;
  • Running anti-virus scans and managing alerts;
  • Monitoring system performance, disk space, or other metrics, and sending alerts when predefined thresholds are exceeded;
  • Data collection and reporting; and
  • Troubleshooting.

Most districts create scripts for their technicians to use for these and similar tasks. Talk to your district technology department to find out what scripts they have in place for you to use to make your work more efficient. They should also have instructions for running any script and documentation about how the script works, perhaps in a Knowledge Base.

Be sure to test scripts thoroughly before use so that front-end users won’t be impacted if there is an issue. 

Here are additional resources you may find useful:

Complete the following task or self-assessment:

Manage and prioritize tasks for one week while applying the principles of the Eisenhower Matrix for effective time management.

  1. Use the task list you created in Module 2 or create a task list that includes your work for the next week. 
  2. Organize these tasks based on priority using the Eisenhower Matrix method and be able to explain why you ranked them as you did.
  3. Plan your tasks for the week, focusing most of your time in Quadrant 2
  4. At the end of the week, reflect on your success in prioritizing your work. Evaluate the effectiveness of the Eisenhower Matrix. Talk with colleagues about your work that week and see what insights they might share. 

Reflection: 

  • In what ways have the concepts of managing and prioritizing tasks challenged your current practices? Are there strategies that you have implemented or that you're eager to try?
  • How can the principles of setting short-term and long-term goals contribute to your overall time management and task prioritization?
  • How has your understanding of the concept of 'urgent' and 'important' tasks changed after studying the Eisenhower Matrix? How might this change your approach to prioritizing your work?