Priorities – The Objective Co

I recently read a post – Hypothetical Value and Real Value by Fred Wilson, partner at USV. It was thought provoking – not only its comparison of tangible and yet-to-be-tangible business scenarios – but also in its potential application to other areas;

how we spend our time
the choices we make in prioritizing business activities
where we put our personal investments
decisions we make with raising our kids
…

It’s often difficult to know for sure where the best bets are placed, what you should invest in (time, money, effort). The “sure bet, no regrets” are often the baby steps in choosing where to put resources, but at one point you’ve got to make a decision on a direction. The balance between real and hypothetical value can help to bring perspective to that decision:

what are we actually valuing?
what are the trade offs?
what’s the risk/ reward profile
value today vs. tomorrow

I find it helpful to understand how thinkers and doers from a variety of disciplines approach decision making. Let’s use time as the example. If I were thinking about the “real value” of time, it’s in the direct trade off to some tangible value – work for pay, exercise for endorphins, tutoring a child. The “hypothetical value” of time is a future state bet – the things we can’t see today. Some of the actions may be the same – exercise leads to better health, lower healthcare costs in the future, greater longevity. Building skills which may not be as visible today and are a lot of work could yield tremendous benefit in the future. Spending time with a child to nurture brings joy (or not) in the short term, but a supported child returns 10x in their future life experiences.

How do you think about your investment decisions? Food for thought.

If you’re like me, the days are packed to the brim with an unending set of meetings, events, coffees and to dos that seem important but ultimately have little impact or outcome. And, if like me, you are on the hunt for a model to help you set priorities, this is the right place:

Big Rocks, Pebbles, Sand:
Fill a jar with big rocks (the most important things you have going on), then pebbles (the things in your life that matter, but you could live without), then sand (remaining filler – material possessions). If you start with sand in the jar, there won’t be room for rocks or pebbles. Keep your big rocks to 4-5 at a time, manage the pebbles and try not to have too much sand.

The Urgent / Important Matrix:
This one is fairly self explanatory. Do and Plan the important things, Delegate and Eliminate the unimportant. And do them on the appropriate timescale mapped to urgency.

Priorities Matrix

Timeline Model:
The final of the models is to look out 10 years (any longer isn’t tangible enough) and imagine what you would like to accomplish across key categories such as your health, family & friends, career, finances, spirituality, etc. Once you have a clear understanding of those goals, bring it to the near term with near term steps that will help set you on journey. Then go back out and connect the dots from today until tomorrow. Anything that deviates from the goals and that line should not be made a priority.

These don’t need to be independent models – in fact I use them in conjunction depending on the context I’m in. Regardless of which one(s) you choose, using these frameworks will help guide how you spend your days.

Tag: Priorities

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