First Things First Don't know where to start? Six ways to set priorities.

It's tempting to give all your tasks top-priority orlow-priority status, but how do you decide what actually is orisn't important? Setting realistic priorities serves manypurposes, including helping you stay focused and productive. Usethe following criteria to determine your top priorities.

• Know the difference between important and urgent. Importantmeans something needs to be done; urgent means something must bedone immediately.

• What's the worse thing that would happen if you didn'tcomplete the task today? Would you lose your business? You maythink everything has to be done today, no questions asked. Berealistic--admit you can't do everything.